4 Cruces

Time

2010-01-08T16:22:00.000-06:00

Here in Puerto Viejo, life moves along at it’s own pace. It’s one of those immutable laws of nature akin to night following day and day following night. There’s no changing it so you just have to learn to roll with it. Case in point: at church, we have repeatedly emphasized how important it is for us to start “on time” (meaning within at least 1/2 hour of the official start time) so that new people who are being invited, along with everyone else, can have some idea of what to expect.

Something about the tropics though; schedules seem to be dictated more by the quality of the surf or the sunset than by a clock or watch. No one else seems to mind... why should we, right? Well, after five years of “learning to roll with it”, I still stress out every Sunday evening when no one is there “on time”. It makes me start doubting our calling, my abilities, etc... everything short of my salvation. It never ends and it never gets any easier for me having grown up in a very time oriented family. For those of you that know my dad, you know what I’m talking about.

The Sunday evening after Christmas was the most recent example. We had been inviting people for the past month to come celebrate Christmas with food, friends and a great message on hope. Our “official” start time is 5:30 pm but by 6:00 there were only about 4 people there (which included Amy and me) along with a large amount of food that was getting cold. Like every Sunday, I began to wonder if anyone was even going to show. Suddenly, by about 6:15 people started trickling in and by 6:30 we were up to a total of 21 people (a mob by Puerto Viejo standards).

We enjoyed eating and spending time together and then got into the message. I spoke about the reason that we, as Christians, celebrate Christmas... not because a baby was born but because of the hope that His birth brought to the human race. Hope for today and for eternity. Following that, we watched the second part of a video series by Louie Giglio entitled “Hope When Life Hurts Most” which led to some thought provoking discussion afterwards.

Our church is the only church in the entire community that is specifically reaching out to the third culture of foreigners that have have made Puerto Viejo home. Because we are non-denominational, people feel more comfortable. The fact that we don’t even have a name for the church is a plus in a town where people have fled institutions, structure and labels. We are Christians that love Jesus and want others to come to know him as revealed by the Bible. We have an opportunity here through the skatepark and church to share the good news of Jesus in a way that reaches out to a very non-traditional, un-churched crowd without compromising the message. We need your help in doing this. Pray with us as we make visits to people’s houses and places of business in an effort to build relationships with them. After 5 years of living here, inviting people, etc... we have come to learn that there is no substitute for time. The most effective way to share the message of Jesus is through personal relationships and that can only happen with time.

Back in town

2009-11-03T11:00:00.002-06:00

We made it! After two months of traveling, visiting and speaking we are finally back in Puerto Viejo. While we were in the states, we traveled to South Florida to visit friends and supporters in our home church, Calvary Jupiter. We then headed up to Tallahassee to visit my family and speak at Thomasville Road Baptist Church. The next stop was Tucson, Arizona where we spent time with Amy’s family and spoke to a group from Calvary Chapel Tucson. During the first part of October, we drove up to Ridgway, Colorado to spend some time with our director and meet the new board of directors for Alternative Missions Costa Rica. After a brief return to Tucson, we took off for San Diego where I spoke to over 100 students and faculty at the Horizon School of Evangelism. Our final stop was back in Tucson where we spent the last few days with family, packing and one final speaking engagement at Calvary Chapel Sahuarita, just south of Tucson.

Fortunately, even with all of the travel and speaking, we were able to get in a few days of fun together. We visited the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park and spent a couple of days in Durango, Colorado. We also had the opportunity to let the girls play in the snow as we passed through the mountains.

Overall, it was a great trip. We have found that it is so important for us to get away from time to time so that we can spend time with friends and family and get recharged. It also helps to bring a fresh perspective to our work here in Puerto. It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks, especially being so short-handed, that you lose sight of the big picture. Life becomes one fire to put out after another which begins to take a toll physically, emotionally and spiritually. We need these times to get away so that we can recharge and come back in with fresh ideas and a fresh perspective.

I’m looking forward to changing a few things up with church in an effort to reach out to more people. I am also planning to go deeper with several of the guys that have become the core by spending more targeted personal time with them... working with them to help them realize God’s plan for their lives. I want to help them see beyond tomorrow and get a vision of what is possible when they truly surrender their lives to God. Please be praying for us in this and also for new staff.

Our greatest need right now, and one of my highest priorities for the coming year is getting additional staff. The foundation is in place and there are incredible opportunities but without the right people, we can’t really take advantage of those opportunities. I’ve been familiar with the verse that describes the fields as being white for the harvest but the workers being few, for a long time. It is incredibly true. That means that we, and hopefully you, will be praying to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. Please pray.

Closing In

2009-08-24T16:47:00.010-06:00

Well, it's almost time for us to head in to San Jose to begin our trip home. We will be leaving Puerto on Wednesday to take care of a few last items before flying out to Florida on Saturday. We had a great visit last week with Jeremy and Kerbi from texas. Only God knows the outcome but they are a great couple and we really enjoyed spending time with them. We are also excited about the ways that they could get involved here with the youth house church and even various community initiatives. We'll keep praying and hoping and ask you to as well.

Last night was a great night at church. We've been praying for a friend for a long time and last night he decided he really wanted to let Jesus take control of his life. Erik runs the restaurant at the youth hostel, Rocking J's, next door to the skatepark. We have gotten to know him over the last couple of years and have gradually become closer friends. Erik first started coming to church earlier this year and has been coming regularly for about eight or nine months. After a lot of time thinking things through, we had a chance to sit down on the stairs and talk last night before church. It was awesome to hear Erik tell God in his own words that he was done trying to do it on his own. He asked Jesus to be a part of his life... to forgive his past and give him a hope and a future. We had the privilege of baptizing him right out front just after dark. Erik is a great guy and truly wants to walk

with Jesus... not an easy thing in this life. Please be praying for him. Thank God for his decision and pray that he'll grow in his relationship with his saviour. This is an awesome thing!

Incoming

2009-08-11T09:40:00.003-06:00

I don't know if this is more of an update or a prayer request, but here it is. As we move through August, we are getting prepared for a couple of things. We are heading back to the States at the end of the month. We will be away from Puerto for almost two months, spending time with family and friends, getting recharged and doing a little speaking at our supporting churches. There is quite a bit of work to do in preparing to leave the country for any length of time. Due to the unexpected departure of a team member, we are going to be closing the skatepark for the time we are gone. Hopefully, the house church will continue meeting and I am working with one of the guys to make it happen. There are legal issues to address along with a host of preparations both at our house and at the park. We could use prayer in this as we work to make sure everything is taken care of before our departure.

As many of you may know, we have been short-handed down here for quite a while. With the skatepark, youth program, church and all the associated administration, we are constantly bordering on being overwhelmed. We have been praying about new staff and have had some promising leads but nothing has worked out yet. This weekend, we will be hosting a couple from Texas that is considering joining us here in Puerto. This is a very important time for us as well as them, as they are looking to God for direction as well. I have to admit that I am pretty nervous about it all, in part because our need for help is so great and in part because I really hope they are able to see the vision and get an idea of the potential here. It seems like every time we have visitors, nothing goes normally. The weather doesn't cooperate, none of the regulars show up for skate times/church/etc... It is easy for me to focus on these externals, especially when our need for co-laborers is so great. It is easy for me to forget that God is ultimately in control and it is His calling that we need to be looking for... not the externals that we can't control. Please pray for us and for this upcoming week. This is an important time for us but no less important for the couple that is coming to visit. It is a huge decision for them and I remember being at the same point in our lives less than five years ago. I don't want to try and talk them into anything but at the same time I want to share my excitement about the potential that exists. As much as we want this to work out, we want God's will to be done even more. Please pray that God will provide direction and peace and also that he will provide the team members that we need. Thanks for the prayers.

Updates...

2009-08-05T09:48:00.003-06:00

Here it is... the first week of August. Time is flying and it doesn't seem to slow down at all. Last week, we returned from our staff retreat which was a great opportunity to reflect and have some time away. This past Monday, I gave AJ Rhodes a ride to the airport in San Jose as he was finally heading back to Tallahassee. AJ attends Thomasville Road Baptist Church in Tallahasse, Florida which is one of our supporting churches. We were fortunate enough to have him here in Puerto for about a month to help us with our last mission team of the summer as well as our regular skate sessions among other things. It has been a busy year without the long-term help we are praying for but thankfully, we have had some short term help during some of the busiest times.

We are looking forward to the visit of a couple from Lubbock, Texas on the 13th of this month. We have been talking for the past few months about the possibility of them joining us long-term down here and now we are finally going to get the opportunity to meet them and show them around. We'd definitely appreciate prayer for this as it is so important for us to get some help and it is a big decision for them as well. We ask God to be in the middle of it all.

It as been good to have Erik, owner of "@ E's Restaurant", back in town. He was traveling to Cuba, Mexico and then the States for the past few months and we really missed him at church. It seems that good friends are sometimes hard to make down here so you really miss them once when they're not around.

We will be returning to the States later this month. We'll arrive in Florida on the 29th of August. We'll head to Jupiter first and will be there until the 5th of September. Then, we'll be taking a break in Orlando with family before heading up to Tallahassee on the 10th. We'll be there until the 22nd. Next, we'll head to Arizona to spend time with Amy's family, take a short trip to Colorado to meet with the director of Alternative Missions, San Diego to meet with leaders from the Horizon School of Ministry and then back to Tucson for a few days before heading home to Puerto Viejo on the 19th of October. Hopefully, along the way we will get to see many of our friends. It's been a long time and we look forward to re-connecting.

Please be praying for the church while we are gone. Unfortunately, no one has stepped forward to lead in my absence. We are still hoping and praying that one of the local guys will step up and take on the responsibility...that's what we're here for, but it's not a simple thing. We are, however, happy to see people continuing to grow in their relationship with God.

We would appreciate your continued prayers. It is incredible to be living in our home and that has taken much of the negative stress out of our lives. For the first time since we've been here, we are able to devote less time to getting by and more time to our work... simply because life is a little easier and more convenient (not to mention safe and dry). A huge weight has been lifted off of us and we are so appreciative to all who made it possible through prayers and help.

air

2009-06-30T11:52:00.003-06:00

It seems as though I have made it to the surface once again. When things get too hectic, the only option is to drop the options and unfortunately, due to our difficulties with internet access, that means bogging and updating. We said goodbye to the team from Calvary Jupiter. They were here for just about a week, working with us at the house and in the local high school. We had a great time with them and really enjoyed both seeing some old friends and making some new ones. It was also great to see what an impact they had at the school...evidenced by the fact that between 60 and 80 people showed up for our youth/skate night...many of them students that don't normally come. We (Amy, the girls and I) feel refreshed and thankful to have a church that gets behind us in such a major way. It means a lot to see their care in action.

We have another team coming in a few days, so I am busy preparing for their arrival. That means going through budgets, setting up transportation, meals, etc... which can be quite a bit of work. We are looking forward to AJ Rhodes's arrival this weekend as he is going to help us with the team. Dexter, one of our local friends, is also going to be a huge help in getting everyone around from place to place. we'll be working with Ronnie and Tammy, who used to be on our team but are now pastoring the Baptist church. They ran into a similar problem with their house and we are going to be helping them get ahead in some areas that were stalled. More to come. Thanks for following.

San Jose? Again?

2009-06-03T15:32:00.002-06:00

We are getting prepared for yet another trip to San Jose. None of us are excited about it but it has to be done. Last year, about this same time, Amy had a small, benign tumor removed from her back near her spine. The doctor told here that it was a type that could recur and if left untreated, could eventually become malignant. He made sure to tell her to keep an eye out and if she found more, to call. Well, about two months ago she found another suspicious place on her hip. She has an appointment tomorrow afternoon, so we are heading in early. If she has to have surgery, we will wait a couple of days before we travel back. We'd appreciate your prayers and I will make sure to post again once we know what's going on. It has been a hectic year but we know that God is in control.

Makena! Makena! Makena!

2009-05-28T10:26:00.004-06:00

That was the chant yesterday as Makena was carried off of the soccer field at the end of a brutal match-up between the Rio Negro kindergarten (Makena's school) and the Manzanillo kindergarten. Two weeks ago, Makena's class was slaughtered by a combination of 4 and 5 year olds that had been practicing and a few parents that blurred the line between "helping" and cheating. Yesterday, after two weeks of practice in the blistering heat, Makena's class stood tall and took the battle to their tiny opponents.

When Makena first started practicing, she was easily distracted and had a hard time following the game. Then, her coach tried her out as the goalie. She found her calling in life and immediately began an ascent that ended with her being carried off the field on the shoulders of her teacher and several other parents, all to chants of, "Makena! Makena! Makena!." It was one of the funniest things I have seen since we have been down here and we laughed hysterically. She is now a local celebrity of sorts (having helped her team to win by blocking multiple goal attempts by the other team). Makena simply said, "I was embarassed." We were very proud of her and also very much enjoyed the opportunity it gave us to interact with other parents and students. Here's to hoping that God uses all of this for His purposes. What a day.

One of the things I don't like

2009-05-27T16:02:00.006-06:00

I don't like snakes. The other day, I heard a first person snake story that made my skin crawl. Andres, one of the first kids that became a Christian several years ago, told me what happened to him a few days before. He and his mom watch houses for people that are on vacation or are absentee landowners. Right now, they are watching a farm up in the mountains. Andres was out working the other day, gathering bamboo with a couple of other people that live at the farm. He was walking through grass that was about shin height. All of a sudden, he felt something hit his heel from behind...hard. He turned around and saw a terciopelo (fer-de-lance) thrashing around with it's teeth stuck in the heel of his rubber boot. Reflexively, he swung his machete and cut the head off about the same time he saw it. The body was flopping around behind him. He started freaking out at this point and tried to pull off his boot. One of the people that had been working with him yelled at him to stop. When he stopped and looked, he realized that the fangs had gone all the way through the boot and there was venom dripping off of them. If he had pulled his boot off, he would have been "bitten" by a dead snake and would have suffered the same reaction. They ended up having to cut the boot off around the head of the snake to get it off cleanly.

One thing you should know... The fer-de-lance has been called "the most feared snake in the western hemishere" both due to it's aggressive nature and the potency of it's venom. I would have passed out. Anyway, it gave us a good opportunity to talk about God's plans for our lives. I told Andres a long time ago that God had a plan for him. This reinforced it for me. Hopefully, it reinforces it for him.

In other news, it has been pretty crazy with just Amy and I trying to keep up. We are talking with a soon to be couple from Texas that are very interested in moving down to partner with us. We are excited about that. There are some other opportunities as well and we are praying (and ask you to pray as well) that God will provide.

I also just finished several days of meetings with our director from the States. Those meetings went well and I am excited about future possibilities within Alternative Missions. We have a long road ahead as we gear back up after the loss of Whit. There is no way we can do it all...especially in our own strength. Please pray that we'll get the temporary help we need while others are preparing for the long haul, through language school, etc... We will continue to look for God to provide opportunities to share Him with those around us.

I'll write about Makena's soccer game later. It was one of the funniest things I have witnessed since we moved here. Cool and funny.

"The crazy one" has us all laughing most of the time.

One last photo...we added palm leaves to the front of the house for about $100. It came out looking pretty cool and provides the protection we needed from the rain for our stairway.

At last

2009-05-03T11:28:00.009-06:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. There are some good reasons for that but even so, I can hardly believe how long it has been. We are finally out of survival mode and are living in our new house. It is not finished...still quite a bit of work to do...but it is liveable and that is huge. We had no running water in our rental house for the last four weeks we were there. That meant bringing water in jugs to flush and do dishes and going elsewhere to shower. Just taking care of simple tasks like that took up so much time on a daily basis. Now that we are in the new house, things are starting to settle down. For the first time in nine months we have hot water and don't have to go to that bathroom in a bucket if we wake up at night. The bathroom in the previous house was only accessible from the outside and you definitely don't want to walk around outside at night in the jungle.

We also have ceiling fans and are dry...two incredible things that we still can't get over. Right now, we are reveling in the small things. Credit to our move goes out to the team from Calvary Chapel Jupiter who helped push us over the hump. They spent five days sanding, varnishing, painting and building in order to take the house to the point where we could move in. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us as well. Life has taken a sudden turn for the better.

After two months, there is quite a bit of other news to tell as well. First, a few weeks back we had the privilege of baptizing Pablo. We got to know Pablo almost two years ago when he first visited from Spain looking for land to build a surf camp. Pablo ran into a lot of problems during the construction of his first cabin (imagine that). He also experienced quite a bit of loneliness being apart from his family. It was during this time that we became friends (through a shared love of the surf). Pablo spent quite a bit of time in our home eating and hanging out. As God began working in his life, he began coming to our house church...something he had never experienced before. Little by little, he was drawn to God. One night about a month ago, I had an opportunity to sit and talk with Pablo before church started. The conversation came to the point where I asked him if we wanted to give control of his life to Jesus. Without hesitating, he said "Yes. I need to do that". He explained that when he was younger, growing up in the Catholic church in Spain, he had felt God calling him into a relationship. At the time, he said no...he had other things on his mind. After years of running into dead ends and coming to the end of himself...God was still knocking. That night just over a month ago, Pablo prayed and told Jesus that he wanted to follow Him. We baptized Pablo two weeks ago...eight people on a beach in Puerto Viejo...but a whole lot of happy witnesses in Heaven.

I also had the privilege of speaking at some friends' wedding a couple of weeks ago. I'll post a couple of photos now but will save the story for a soon to be written update. The wedding was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen and God provided a way for us to make him known publicly.

Finally, we are sad to be losing Whit Hazelton who has been working with us for the past eight months. Whit came down last September to serve with us long term, but as things go, he is now returning to the States this coming week to get married and live with his future wife and son. It has been an incredible experience to work and serve with him and we are sad to see him go but wish and pray the best for him, his future wife Kristin and her son. We need your prayers as Amy and I are now solely responsible for everything, including weekly skate sessions, house church, youth nights and administrative duties. We believe that God has placed us here for a reason and are trusting that He will send the right people and give us the right ideas at the right time. Please pray for us as we need a minimum of one to two people, preferably a couple or a family, to join us in the near future as even our legal status as a mission is in jeopardy. I will focus much of my efforts over the next two months on recruiting new staff members, both from the states or locally, to join with us. Thanks for your prayers and your interest.

Water and other events

2009-02-22T09:38:00.002-06:00

Well, we've had quite a bit going on lately. Just for kicks, I took the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale test (which rates a variety of life events such as job change, death of a family member, illness, etc...on a point scale) the other night just to see where I rated and found I was well over 300 points. Actually, I came in at 321, which places me in the "severe life crisis" area with a 79% chance of a major health change. Interesting.

Anyway, we've been working hard to get into the house. We've given up on finishing and are hoping at this point to make it livable. One of the last big items we've been struggling to complete is our septic system. Last Tuesday we finally found a backhoe to come out and dig the pit. The next day I drove to all three hardware stores trying to find the right type of rock to put in the drainfield. Non of the stores had anything. I finally tracked down a trucking company and was able to have a load delivered. Now, our house is on the other side of a very steep hill that basically requires a four wheel drive just to climb. Because of this, the truck had to drop the rocks at the bottom of the hill which meant that we had to haul around 12 cubic meters of boulders over the hill, one truck-load at a time in our pick-up. We spent three days working on this and still aren't done. The day after the back-hoe dug the hole, the sides caved in. We worked on that all day the following day and got it opened back up again only to have another day and a half of torrential downpours fill the hole with water and mud. Yesterday, we started over again. It is incredibly difficult to get anything completed here.

Thankfully, things are going well with the skatepark and with our church. We had our monthly cookout on Friday night and there were quite a few youth that showed up in spite of the rain. At one point, the winds and rain were so hard that the movie screen blew down and we were all huddled against the office door trying to keep dry. At least the food was good. Church continues to go well as we work our way through Romans. Tonight we'll be watching a movie about the events that took place in Rwanda several years back called "Beyond the Gates" Two weeks ago we studied in Romans Chapter 5 and took some time to specifically talk about Paul's words regarding sin and grace. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Tonight, we'll talk some about the existence of true evil while we watch the evidence of God's grace in the midst of horrific events. It is a great movie and truly illustrates this point.

Next week, more work trying to get moved in. We could really use some prayer in this as our next door neighbor continues to make threats towards me (which is another stressor that I don't need at the moment). Thanks for following along with us.

Sometimes

2009-02-01T16:31:00.007-06:00

I don't get homesick too often. I moved out of our family's house at the age of 17 when I went away to college and within six years I had lived in Tennessee, California, Hawaii and Arizona. I'm used to being away from friends and family (although that doesn't mean I don't miss them). However, every now and then a wave of nostalgia hits and I find myself wishing I was somewhere else. It happened around Christmas time when we got hit with the terrible rain and flooding...we wished we could be with family for Christmas. Today of all days it hit while I was driving in to prepare for church.

Today is Superbowl Sunday. I am not a big football fan and haven't really followed it much at all since I started surfing about 25 years ago. Yet, here I was, driving by the beach, wishing we were heading over to some friends' house to hang out, eat some junk food and watch the Superbowl. Obviously, it's not about the game...it's about the people. People that were a big part of our lives that we don't get to see any more. Every now and then we are reminded that there are sacrifices to doing what we do...big ones (like being away from friends and family or not having reliable running water for over six months...) and small ones (like laughing at the half-time commercials with people with whom you share a sense of humor). It has been over a year since our last visit to the States and we don't anticipate being able to come home until late July. It isn't as long as my parents spent in East Africa without a trip home, but it is a long time.

Tonight, we start the second half of Romans Chapter 5. Important stuff. Important concepts for us all to understand. We're born into a world filled with and infected by the disease we call sin. Just like smallpox was introduced to the Americas by one infected sailor (with terrible repercussions for everyone else in the "new world"), sin was introduced into the world by one man...Adam. Thank God that there's a cure for sin (unlike smallpox at the time). Thank God that life and reconciliation came through the one man Jesus Christ. Yeah, I'd love to be kicking back watching the Superbowl (for real) but this is a good thing too. Pray that this reality is grasped by those in attendance tonight... because understanding this; really, truly understanding it makes all the difference in the world not only in the long term but in how we live our lives on a day to day basis. The reality of God's grace and forgiveness is just a little bit more important than my desire to sit on a real couch and eat chips and drink a Coke.

I received this quote a couple of days ago. It really made my day. I hope you enjoy it too because it applies to everyone that is serving God anywhere at any time and in any way.

John 6:53-71
Just the other day someone said of a friend, "This man is destined for a great ministry," by which he meant he was headed for the big time - a high profile church with a big budget.
It made me wonder: Why do we think that God's call is necessarily upwardly mobile? Why wouldn't He send His best workers to labor for a lifetime in some small place? Aren't there people in obscure places who need to be evangelized and taught? God is not willing that any perish.
Jesus cared about the individual as well as the masses. He taught large crowds if they appeared, but it never bothered Him that His audience grew smaller every day. Many left Him. In John 6:66 it is written that, "at this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him", a fickle attrition that would have thrown most of us into high panic. Yet Jesus pressed on with those the Father gave Him.
We live in a culture where bigger is better, where size is the measure of success. It takes a strong person to resist that trend, especially if he or she is laboring in a small place.
But size is nothing: substance is everything. Whether you're pastoring a small church or leading a small Bible study or Sunday school class, serve them with all your heart. Pray, love, teach by word and example. Your little place is not a steppingstone to greatness. It IS greatness." David Roper

Making disciples in a small, obscure place. Sebas baptizing Anastasia two Sundays ago.

In Her Own Words, Part 2

2009-01-22T20:55:00.003-06:00

Anastasia this past Sunday night after her baptism. This is really cool.

In Her Own Words, Part 1

2009-01-20T11:36:00.005-06:00

Anastasia in her own words one year ago, just after she decided to follow Jesus. January 2008

The opposite of discouragement

2009-01-17T15:35:00.002-06:00

I've never experienced highs and lows in life like I have here in the field. Life is anything but even-keeled. I never know quite how we're doing...are we being effective? Is there more we can do? Does anyone even care? How much harder can daily life get? Where are the thank-you's? Some days it is enough to make me wonder what the heck I was thinking when we picked up and moved down here four years ago.

No sooner does that thought enter my mind than God begins to provide encouragement...

We recently went to a New Year's Day pig roast, which is really a gathering of missionaries throughout Costa Rica at the house of our friend Bob Wilmarth, owner of the infamous Goat Farm (one smell and you know why it's "infamous"). We often feel somewhat isolated down here in Puerto because we don't have much contact with other missionaries and their families...people that understand what it's like. It was great to spend a day hanging out and talking with people that can identify with the different issues we face on a daily basis. To hear a seasoned missionary say..."Don't worry about things...it takes at least four years for most missionaries to even begin being effective where they are because there is so much to learn and so many hurdles to overcome" is so encouraging. To have someone else that has been working in country for many years tell us, "Wow, you guys picked the hardest place in the entire country to start a ministry" speaks volumes. To watch our kids play for hours with all of the other missionary kids was priceless. All in all, it was very encouraging.

Other encouragements...we were invited by a friend we met at the pig roast, to speak to a group of college students from Messiah College this past Tuesday. I hope they were blessed, but I know that we certainly were as we not only had an opportunity to meet some neat people and to share with them what God had done in our lives, we also had the opportunity to listen to a man that grew up in the jungle here in Costa Rica as the son of missionaries to the Cabecar Indians, an indigenous group that lives in the mountains behind Puerto. His story was very inspiring. He has gone through a lot in his life and has put up with things we can't even imagine in order to share the love of Christ with others. We felt priveledged to be a part of the evening.

Reality quickly destroys the romantic idea of "missions"...whatever that is. There is only one thing that matters in the end...the call of God. Were you called? You had better go. If you weren't called...if you're not sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has put a calling on your life you better stay home because without the surety of a calling, there are better, simpler and easier ways to pass time. Don't do it because it sounds cool...like a good thing to do. It will destroy you. Living here has helped me in some small way to identify with the subjects of Hebrews Chapter 11. I don't know if we will ever see the results we hope to see in our lifetime, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has placed us here. Case in point? Barring something unforseen, after having to wait a full year since she accepted Christ, we'll baptize Anastasia tomorrow night before house church. One small drop in a very deep bucket but another huge source of encouragement.

life

2009-01-13T13:03:00.002-06:00

Well, it seems to get harder and harder to put together an update. In trying to get the house finished, we're falling way behind on our communications. Please forgive us. We don't have a phone line out where we live and it can sometimes be pretty difficult to get online at all.

It is now Tuesday and I am trying to get caught up on administrative duties, communication with potential staff members, etc... We are also working like crazy to finish the house. Our goal at this point is to make it livable so that we can move in. Our contractor is doing good work but I have decided that he is terrible at math. We are now so over our contract amount that we are close to having to shut down. Third world calculating finally catches up with us. Anyway, I am spending as much time as possible working on-site myself both to make sure that workers continue going strong and so that I can get as much done myself as possible. The roof is 98% complete, the flooring is 80% complete and hopefully we'll have a functioning water system and bathroom in the next week or so. We could definitely use prayer in this. We want to finish and move so that our living situation is stable and we can put all of our energies into our work rather than being so distracted. I keep reminding myself that this is a short time which will increase our long-term effectiveness.

As for church, things really seemed to go well this past Sunday night. We had a pretty large crowd...the largest in quite some time, and everyone really seemed to connect and enjoy the night. I took a slight detour from our ongoing study through Romans to talk about faith. We have just finished Chapter 4 where Paul spoke about Abraham being made righteous because of his faith. There's a lot of talk in our culture about faith, but all too often, faith is an end unto itself. We spent a couple of hours Sunday night looking at faith from a biblical perspective before we head through the rest of the letter to the Romans. I really enjoyed teaching and everyone seemed to enjoy listening and discussing as we went through the study. My hope is that we will continue to grow closer as a body and that we will also begin to grow. Please pray for us and for our effectiveness. Please pray for the new Christians as God molds them into new creations.

Finally, we'll also be celebrating a baptism this next Sunday afternoon. If all goes according to plan, Sebas (who has been part of our church since the beginning) will baptize Anastasia whom he shared Christ with early last year. It will be an exciting time.

Christmas

2008-12-26T11:15:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Christmas yesterday...first by opening presents in the morning. The girls really enjoyed their new Polly Pockets dolls and we all got a kick out of the new socks that Santa brought for us to wear in our boots (I'll include a photo of that soon). We are sort of at the end of our rope waiting for the house to be done. It isn't easy living in such a tiny house with no storage space, sporadic running water and rain often blowing in. We are also all sick at the moment so rather than trying to throw together a Christmas dinner, we went out for a treat to Chili Rojo and had a great Turkey dinner courtesy of Andrew (the owner) and his wife Ikuko. We took a family photo before we headed out. Here we are in our Puerto finest...ready to paint the town red...and green.

We celebrated Christmas at house church this past Sunday evening. It was almost a wash. Our plans were to have a Christmas dinner around 5:30 or so, read some of the Christmas story from the bible and then watch the movie "The Nativity Story". Well, our friend that was cooking the pork roast (smoked turkeys were the only traditional option and they were $100 each) got started cooking several hours late as he had trouble finding some of the things he needed. We ended up just waiting around, talking and hoping until almost 8:00pm when the roast was finally (mostly) done. Then, someone showed up with fireworks and created quite a side show. It was rather chaotic and hardly anyone made it through the movie, but we were able to celebrate in the end. That is sort of the way things seem to go down here. Flexibility is one of the necessary spiritual gifts...or you just break. Here's a photo from our evening.

Finally, the house. Please pray that we get through this in one piece. It is definitely a different world down here when it comes to construction. Overall, things are going well but the words "stay within budget" don't mean anything to the contractor and the laborers. We are finding ourselves in the position of either paying more or having them all walk...and there isn't much more available to pay. It is very frustrating because I have tried to plan well and stay on top of things the whole way through the process. that only works when all parties are on the same page and unfortunately, that is next to impossible. It looks now like the house will go up to $10,000 over budget and we have no control over this. Even though we have a contract, there is no ability to enforce it and the contractor has no surplus even if we could. We either come up with the additional funds or they walk away when we can no longer pay. Very frustrating, especially since we are so close to finishing. I will be glad when this is over. Anyway, here is a photo of the house taken yesterday.

Very simple...open air construction; no air conditioning; lots of ventilation; rainwater catchment system with over 2300 gallons of water storage to get us through drought periods. Definitely a different way of living. Our living area is on the second floor to increase security by limiting access to one point. Below is a storage area, homeschool area and a guest room (if you feel like visiting).

We can't tell you all how much we miss seeing you at this time of year. We have not visited the States for over a year now and it is really starting to seem like a long time. We know this is where God has us and we are comforted by Him but from time to time, we do miss home. Take care and God Bless.

Craziness and Christmas

2008-12-20T09:29:00.002-06:00

Wouldn't you know it...right as I'm getting ready to get online, pay some bills and take care of a few other important things, the motherboard on my laptop fried. I haven't been able to get online for almost a week, which is really bad when I don't get that many opportunities anyway. Thanks to Dell's warranty, the computer is running again and we're back in business.

We are in San Jose right now, getting ready to head back to Puerto. We brought the girls in for a couple of days to do a few fun things for Christmas (beats hanging out in our 250 square foot house). We also met up with the builder to buy a few items so that they can continue working. Please pray that the house gets finished on time and close to the budget we had originally worked out in the contract. I am discovering that contracts in Costa Rica are more of a guideline than an actual figure you can hold someone to. In the end, you pay the additional amount (whether you have it or not) or the builder walks away when there's no more money for him to spend. There are no reserves for him to pull from if he goes over budget. If he goes over, you go over.

We are also going to pick up a turkey today for our Christmas feast at house church. Everyone is looking forward to that. We're going to eat, read a little bit of the Christmas story from the bible and then watch the movie "The Nativity". I hope everyone reading this has a great Christmas. Enjoy being with your friends and families. Take time to thank God for all of his blessings and for sending Jesus to spend some time with us and for taking the heat so that we don't have to.

it won't stop!!!

2008-12-02T14:26:00.005-06:00

Weather... Actually, that's not totally true that the rain won't stop...it just won't stop for long. It did stop for about five days...enough to begin drying out. We had about five days of dry weather which ended with a bang earlier yesterday morning. The sky opened...again. It's been raining most of the day today and we're looking at another four days, unfortunately. Already, Limon is cut off from San Jose by flooding and I believe the road is closed between Puerto and Limon again. Right now, it's raining so hard on the zinc roof of the skatepark that I can barely think. The good side is this...for us it is an inconvenience but for many others it has been devastating. Many people have lost their homes and belongings in areas close to us. Thank God we are in good shape...we can deal with mold...but many others have not been as fortunate. We were able to help a little by taking clothing and food to our local grocery store which was collecting for the relief effort. Please pray that the rain will stop so that people get a chance to get their lives back together. This is the rainy season, but we have just experienced the most rain this part of the country has had since 1941.

The House... As for us, things are going alright. We had a great Thanksgiving with Amy cooking up a storm (with help from the girls) and Whit joining us for the meal.

On the housing front, we lost almost two weeks of work but were able to get a few things done last week. Unfortunately, two things happened that slowed us down considerably. The styrofoam roofing insulation that was supposed to have arrived almost two weeks ago never showed. In addition, three of the additional workers that had arrived to speed things up went home due to the bad weather...the day before the rain stopped for five days. That meant that we weren't able to get the roof on when it was dry and now everyone is back and it's raining. Pura Vida!

Church... Our house church went well on Sunday. We finished going through the second chapter of Romans. It was a real hoot discussing the finer spiritual details of circumcision...not your everyday bible study topic. My goal each week is to simply and clearly, without a lot of "christianese", explain the scripture in a way that is interesting and applicable. I think this happens most of the time. Anyway, it went well Sunday and everyone seemed to go away with a clear understanding that we're not saved by what's on the outside...and hopefully a deeper devotion to Jesus. It is really cool to see people beginning to see themselves as the church. We are talking about starting some type of mid-week meeting that would be different from Sundays and we're talking about how we as a church might be able to begin reaching out to others. Please pray for us in this...although we've been at this for a couple of years now, we're still starting from scratch.

We would also appreciate your prayers for our safety and the safety of people in town. For a variety of reasons, crime has increased dramatically here lately with armed holdups, car-jackings, etc... This is the type of thing that won't really affect the safety of a visiting mission team but is a concern for those of us living here on a more permanent basis. I won't go into details but we would definitely appreciate your prayers.

End of the year giving:
As you consider your end of the year giving please consider the following...

Support for us as a family...your support of our family as missionaries enables us to do what we do. Prayerfully consider joining the Cruce Family Support team. We continue to need people to join our support team on a monthly basis. For options, click on this link to Shepherd's Staff or to donate electronically, click here.

Support for the ministry...your support of our ministry enable us to maintain the skatepark, purchase new skateboards and sponsor local youth as they compete on the national surf circuit. You can donate to our ministry through Alternative Missions by clicking here. Then, click on "Other Designation" and fill out the information making sure to indicate that your donation is for Puerto Viejo.

Sometimes it can get pretty lonely down here as the holidays approach and we want to be with friends and family. Thankfully, we have a very large extended family in all of you. We want you all to know how much we appreciate your continued interest and prayers as we do our best to be faithful to God's calling.

Weather article

2008-11-24T17:57:00.004-06:00

In case the link doesn't come through, here is the article on our current weather situation.

Caribbean endures another pounding by Mother Nature

By Elyssa Pachico and the A.M. Costa Rica staffThe Caribbean coast is taking it on the chin again with rains and flooding spawned by a cold front. Some 32 communities have been affected, and up to 2,100 persons are in shelters, according to the Cruz Roja,The national emergency commission said that rain had not let up Sunday in the coastal mountains, and rivers in Limón province continued to swell. The agency cited problems with the Barbilla and Chirripó rivers in Matina, the Pacuare and Reventazón in Siquirres, the Parismina in Guacimo, the Sarapiquí and the Sixaola.Isolated communities in the Talamanca are likely to be hard hit, but so far they are cut off from communications. On the coast, the community of Sixaola was awash from the river of the same name.Puerto Viejo de Talamanca suffered damage to a bridge leading to town, and pedestrians were forced to cross part of the way on two wood planks.The problems were not just confined to the Provincia de Limón. Five homes were damaged heavily in San Jerónimo de Moravia in the metropolitan area by a slide. There were slides around Parque Nacional Brauilo Carrillo on route 32, in the Cordillera central, the central mountains. However, passage remained open with some restrictions.Near Guápiles an ambulance with five persons aboard overturned due to the weather and three persons including a child were injured seriously.Driving all over the Caribbean coast and the northern zone was challenging because in addition to the rain and flooded highways, thick fog developed in places.The Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias estimated that 1,244 persons were victims of the storm in Talamanca alone. The highway to the border with Panamá was cut in several places, officials reported. In Panamá itself, heavy damage was reported in Bocas de Toro.In Matina, the commission said that at least 400 homes were flooded out.The Cruz Roja had three boats circulating in flooded areas picking stranded individuals form the roofs of homes.Along the coast the sea was raging with waves as much as two meters (more than six feet) above normal. In the Central Valley high winds knocked down trees and power lines.
The emergency commission continued high alerts for the Caribbean and the northern zone.Limón experienced 125 mm (about 5 inches) of rain Saturday with 85 mm (3.3 inches) more Sunday, according to the automatic weather station at the Limón airport maintained by the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional. Reports from Puerto Viejo say that four straight days of rain have overwhelmed the road to Cahuita with landslides, fallen power lines and trees. Additionally, the concrete bridge at the main entrance to Puerto Viejo was jerked askew by flooding. That is where people have been forced to walk over a makeshift bridge consisting of two planks.The emergency commission has been monitoring several at-risk areas in Limón, re-evaluating possible risk of floods every three hours, it said. Two temporary refuges haves been created in Matina for people forced to evacuate their homes, one for 42 people in Hone Creek and another for 96 people from 4 Millas. Another temporary refuge was created in the Escuela Caterina in Sixaola to prepare locals for the possibility of rising waters. Officials hoped that by relocating the population early on, residents will avoid worst case scenarios, such as seeking shelter from rising floodwaters on rooftops, or being forced to call for emergency rescue at night. Some 230 people sought refuge in Hone Creek, with two families consisting of 12 people seeking refuge at the local school, Escuela de Catalina.The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional has said that the rains are likely to continue the rest of this week, even though the cold front that has ravaged eastern Costa Rica is slowly dissipating. Most of the rainy weather has been caused by a low-pressure front stretching from Panama to the Caribbean coast.This weekend alone, winds in San José became as strong as 90 kph (56 mph). Today, winds in San José, the Caribbean region and Guanacaste are expected to be as strong as 30 to 70 kph (18-44 mph).In the Caribbean, winds will continue to be as strong as 30 to 35 kph (18 to 22 mph) with waves as high as two to three meters (from 6.5 to 10 feet). The Pacific will see winds between 50 and 55 kph (31 to 34 mph), with waves as high as 2.3 meters (7.5 feet). Neither ocean is suitable for sailing this week, said the Comisión de Emergencias.The real extent of the damage will not be known for several weeks. In addition to flooded homes, damaged roads and bridges and washouts, agriculture and tourism have taken big hits.

Disaster?

2008-11-24T17:44:00.003-06:00

Well, we're the closest we've been to being in the middle of a third world disaster since we moved down here. The weather is totally crazy and everything we own is wet and moldy. It started raining last Tuesday and hasn't stopped yet (http://www.amcostarica.com/morenews2.htm). Today was day number seven and we are supposed to be getting hit by another system starting tomorrow. Normally, this is fairly normal for this time of year but the duration and the extent of the rainfal are not normal. One of the bridges leading out of Puerto Viejo washed out and we are now effectively cut off from the rest of the country unless walking is an option. The roads are also out between Puerto and Limon and again between Limon and San Jose and we almost lost the bridge that links our neighborhood to the rest of the area. We don't have any idea how long it may take to get everything reconnected and reconstructed but it won't be tomorrow. We need to make sure we have cash on hand and we need to stock up on groceries as well. It could be a while before we get anything more than staples. We'll see (not to set off the alarm too early).

As for our house, we have lost over a week of construction and the house we are renting is soaked. Rain has been blowing in from every direction for a week now. We have put up a couple of tarps to keep it out and it is helping a bit but it isn't a perfect system. Maili is sleeping on the futon on our deck as it is slightly more dry than her room. Makena's room is the driest in the house so she is fine. Many people have been flooded out of their homes and are in worse situations than we are. A little mold and mildew aren't too bad when you consider what some families are putting up with. Please pray for everyone down here. We are not in any danger, but we could sure use a few dry days. We could also run into some food and fuel shortages very soon. This is definitely the worst weather we have experienced in our time here and we are ready for it to end. Also, please forgive us if it takes some extra time to return emails. We have also been without internet access for the past week. We'll keep you updated.

Firsts...

2008-11-19T13:50:00.005-06:00

We've had an interesting couple of days here... Last night, there was a 6.2 earthquake across the border in Panama. We were woken up just after midnight last night with the entire house rolling and shaking. As groggy as I was, it was a surreal experience. Maili (if she had been awake) would have felt like she was in the crow's nest of a sailing ship. Her bedroom is in the very top of the house, about 20 feet off the ground, level with the canopies of the surrounding trees. This was the first real earthquake we have experienced here and it was something else. Back in 1992, a huge quake hit the area cutting Puerto Viejo off from the nearest city (Limon) for around two months. Food, etc... had to be brought in by boat. When I think about these kinds of things, I realize that we're only a step away from being in the middle of a third world disaster. That's when I have to remember that we are in God's hands. Definitely exciting.

It rained hard all night and has been raining non-stop today. The rivers and creeks are full and we have a small river running across the yard of our house. Now that we are living back in the hills, transportation is an issue and we have been without our quad for three weeks now which has made life a little more challenging. Getting Makena to school, taking care of other errands and simply getting back and forth from the skatepark come with a whole new level of difficulty. I can't wait to get the quad back because biking to work several miles in heavy rain on a single speed bicycle, up and down hills, is not the easiest thing in the world. It's not the worst either, but I'll be glad to have my transport back. Life here in the jungle comes with a whole new set of challenges and some days simply consist of taking care of things just so that we can continue to be here.

Later this afternoon I'll be opening the skate park if the rain lets up a little. The entire park is covered but when a big storm like this blows in, the rain gets on everything and skating can get a little dangerous. We'll see how it goes but I'm not holding out too much hope since squalls keep blowing through. The rain is also putting a damper on the house construction. They are a little behind on getting the roof finished and can't really work up that high when things are so wet. Hopefully, they will get it done during the next dry spell and then can work every day un-impeded by the wetness. They're supposed to be done by the middle of next month and we're wondering how they'll make it. Another day in our lives... At least I didn't get peed on by the bat again.

Happenings

2008-11-16T19:25:00.003-06:00

Ever been woken up in the middle of the night because a bat peed on you? If not, well I've got one up on you. A few weeks back, we heard our nightly visitor fly into our bedroom. All of a sudden, I felt a spray of liquid on my legs. I told Amy, "I think that bat just peed on me." She wasn't impressed and immediately went back to sleep. I thought about it for a few minutes and decided there was no alternative but to roll over and go back to sleep as well. What are you going to do at 2:00 in the morning? Just another one of the unique experiences we've had here in the jungle.

I'm in San Jose right now. I met with the builder this morning to purchase such necessary items as toilets, sinks, door knobs, etc... for the house. We are getting closer and should have the roof in place by the end of next week. He tells me that we're only a month away from being done and although they are working fast, I have a hard time believing it. We'll see. We're hoping to be in by Christmas. Also, our water problems may be solved soon. Rather than trying to come up with another $10,000 dollars to drill a deep well to the aquifer, we are going green. We have decided to begin harvesting our rain-water by installing a system of large storage tanks and a filtration system. With Whit's help, I calculated that we can capture enough water from our roof alone to satisfy the majority of our needs for the year. We'll still have to watch it during the dry periods but with our surface well for back-up, we should be in pretty good shape. Just don't plan to visit us in September or October or you may find out what it means to "fetch the water".

Here's a recent picture of the house.

It is amazing to me sometimes how much time and energy you can expend here just trying to live. Some times we spend a good part of our week just taking care of things that enable us to continue with life. Add to that the homeschooling, ministry and construction and life is full.

Speaking of "ministry"... everyone seems to be enjoying Romans. What a great letter. We are well into chapter 2 right now and will continue on next week. Since I am stuck in San Jose right now, Amy, a very brave, talented and flexible woman, is leading house church. She is leading a discussion and prayer evening which should be a great time for everyone. We lost a few people earlier in the year as they made decisions which took them out of fellowship. It was pretty discouraging but as we've been faithful to keep meeting, teaching and caring for each other, the group that remained has gone deeper. Several that were coming previously have even returned. That has been encouraging. A typical "service" looks like this. Most everyone begins showing up between 5 and 6pm. We share a meal each week and many times the guys bring lobster and fish that they have caught right offshore on the local reefs. We start cleaning and cooking and end up eating between 6:30 and 7:00. Then, we fill up our coffee mugs and open the study in prayer and worship. After 5-6 songs, we begin the bible study and end with discussion and prayer. Afterwards, everyone pitches in to clean up and hang out a little more. What I love about this is that it is so all-encompassing. It isn't just showing up for an hour and then rushing off to the next thing...our service lasts for 3-4 hours. People are really connecting and are enjoying spending time together. It makes me think that this must be similar to what it was like in the early church. A cool thing to think about as we work our way through Romans.

What up...

2008-10-30T12:18:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. Living out in the jungle is great but it makes it more difficult to do things like get online and blog. Things are going well overall. The house is moving along and is pretty much on schedule. The workers are finishing the first layer of stucco on the walls this week and supposedly, will be starting the roof next Monday. This is great since we are just starting to enter rainy season (it has been raining all day).

We are really excited to get into the new house but there's still a way to go yet. We are still in need of a permanent solution to our water problem. Right now, the only real option is to have a drilling truck come out and drill a deep, perforated well. That is a tall order out here. We'll see what happens.

House church this past Sunday was great. We had some visitors... Pablo was back from Spain and brought his parents with him. They had never experienced anything like this before and seemed to really enjoy it. I saw him the next day and he said that they hadn't stopped talking about it. Please pray for Pablo. He came here last year to buy land and fulfill a dream of starting a surf camp. As things go here...it took more money and time than he had planned and after 9 months of trying, he gave up and went home. He had been coming to our house church for several months before he returned and really experienced a change in is perception of God and his knowledge of the bible. It is awesome to hear him say (after experiencing so much difficulty and frustration) that he believes that God had him here for a reason and now when he returns to Spain, he wants to build into people rather than a project. A real life changing experience for him.

Anyway, Sunday evening we started Romans. We watched the movie "Gladiator" the week before to really get a feel for Rome and the time period before getting into the scripture. The movie really provides a great backdrop to discuss the spread of 1st century Christianity. Everyone seemed to enjoy the message and we had some good discussion afterward. Studying Romans for the first time over 12 years ago at Calvary Chapel Tucson really changed my life and I am so looking forward to sharing that with everyone in our house church. Please pray that lives will be changed and that everyone will be so excited about their faith that they will share it with their friends and families. What a privilege to be here doing this.

Amy's first Blog ever!

2008-10-12T15:00:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone. Thanks for all your prayers about water. We are getting by. I am actually posting this while a nice steady rain is falling. Our current Staff Intern, Whit, said he heard the rain may continue into tomorrow as well. This would be great and about all the water we need to complete the construction that requires water (Concrete etc.) Then, we need the rain to stop for about 2 weeks so the workers can put on the roof. Thankfully, not too tall an order for God.

Well, aside from gratitude to you all, and for rain....I wanted to make an announcement of astronomical proportion...I created a Facebook page. I figured those of you who are already technologically savvy are probably already on it...and if not....you could get on easily if you would like to follow the female perspective of Puerto Viejo life.

Thanks a lot again...and maybe I'll try to pop on here now and then too.

Dry!!!

2008-09-19T11:12:00.003-06:00

Well, our daily life has been much more at a subsistence level lately than at any time since we arrived. We are still basically out of water and have a month and a half to go of dry season. Fortunately, it rained last night and we were able to capture some water in barrels. Amy and I were running around in the dark putting jugs and a barrel under a tarp so that we could collect rainwater. Several episodes of "Survivor" went through my mind. At least we could laugh about it. The worst thing is not having enough water to flush. That gets old very quickly. Between this situation and the need to be present at our construction site, we have very little time for anything else. For those of you that prefer to receive newsletters... I am far behind on sending out a new one but we have been so busy trying to get by that it has been all but impossible. Please bear with us and we'll be back on track eventually.

Latest view of the house as the walls begin to go up. We are using steel construction with walls made of styrofoam and concrete. Hopefully, this will help us avoid the termite problems that are so prevalent here.

This past Saturday night, we had a guest speaker join us to give a presentation at the end of the skate session. His name is Jacob and he is a professional yo-yo'er. He put on a great show and used the yo yo to present the gospel. Many of the smaller kids stayed to see the show and really enjoyed themselves.

I also just returned from San Jose a couple of days ago from picking up Whit Hazleton. Whit is joining our team for the long haul and will be working with me in the youth program and I am sure, with our house church. We are happy to have him with us and are looking forward to working and serving with him. Please continue to pray for our team as we look to add three more members over the next few months.

One last note... Costa Rica celebrated it's independence from Spain on the 15th. Because she attends the public school, Makena participated (partially) in the celebration. Both she and Maili made torches to carry in the night-time parade that takes place on the evening before Independence day and they both marched through town with all of the other children and families. The next day, there were traditional dances, food and hang out time at the school and Makena was on hand in the traditional dress. Here's a couple of photos from Independence Day. It was a fun time and something we look forward to each year.

Going Up

2008-09-05T21:27:00.004-06:00

We started going vertical on the house this week. It is definitely exciting but it sure takes a lot of time to oversee things. Right now, we are trying to get water to mix into the concrete and we're dealing with three dry wells. Our well is dry, the well for the house we're renting is dry and the well of our neighbor is dry. I am having to go to the house we used to rent to pick up water in barrels and bring it back so that the guys can keep working. I never thought we'd have such water problems in the rainforest. Crazy and challenging. Here are a couple of photos of the house as it goes up.

Photo of Don Guillermo, our builder, as he puzzles over the water problem with me.

layout of the foundation and holes for the posts that will support the house.

The steel begins to go vertical. Exciting times...if only we had water (stinky times too).

During the past week, we also had a tragedy take place in town. A local builder named Bobby, died in a motorcycle accident on his way home from Limon, the larger town one hour north of Puerto Viejo. It was a pretty bad accident and he apparently died instantly. Bobby was a really friendly guy and even though we didn't know him well, we know many of the members of his family. Two of his younger kids were in the OANSA program on Sundays for several years and his older daughter was a helper there for a while. He is survived by his wife and six children in addition to three grand children. We went to the funeral on Tuesday and it seemed like half the town turned out. It's hard to see a family go through the pain of losing a loved one but many of them are Christians and at the very least, they have God to turn to. Please pray for his family...that God will bring them peace and comfort.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Maili's 9th birthday at the skatepark. It is hard to believe that she will be 9. Time passes so quickly. She was only 51/2 when we moved here and now she's 9 and Costa Rica is home.

We are also going to be joined soon by Whit Hazleton. He's coming into town on the 16th of this month and will begin serving with us here in Puerto. I'm personally looking forward to working with him and I believe he will be a great addition to our team. Please pray for him as he makes this transition and please pray that as we begin to rebuild our team that God will guide our steps and that we'll soon be able to move out of maintenance mode into a season of growth and greater effectiveness. Thanks for making the journey with us.

Well now...

2008-08-20T16:17:00.003-06:00

Moving right along...we've been out of internet service for almost three weeks. Right now, we borrow a signal from our neighbors by helping them out with their monthly bill. Unfortunately, the signal went out almost three weeks ago and the owners couldn't get it repaired. There is a shortage of computer technicians in the jungle. Anyway, we are back online and back in the game. It's amazing how much we come to depend on the internet and we don't really realize it until we don't have it.

The dry season is upon us (at least we hope) and the ground is finally not completely saturated. We are hoping to start on our house later this week if we can get the backhoe lined up. We will be starting with the installation of a septic tank (essential) and a french drain in a low spot. Then comes the pilings and the steel frame. I'll post a few photos as things begin to move along.

As for church and the youth program, things are moving along. We have been studying the meaning and application of several words at church on Sunday night. Words like, "Christian", "Redemption", "Regeneration", "Justification", and finally, "Sanctification". Big words that sometimes get thrown around without ever being defined. So, we've been going through a process of studying these words in more or less the order that each takes place in our lives when we become followers of Jesus. It has been enlightening to me and hopefully to others as well.

We are getting ready for the addition of Whit Hazleton to our team. We first met him last January when he was visiting with his family. It's pretty cool to watch God work and bring the right people on at the right time. I'm really looking forward to working with him and there is a good possibility that a friend of his may join us mid-year 2009. We are really hoping to rebuild our team so that we can share in the work together and be more effective for the long haul.

Finally, Maili had her first public ballet performance last Friday night. She did a great job and it was a lot of fun to see her perform. Here are a couple of photos from that night. She has really enjoyed her ballet class and it has given us great opportunities to get to know other families in the area.

Maili is on the far right.

Follow the link...

2008-07-29T20:41:00.002-06:00

There is more going on down here than what I am able to convey. Here is a link that I recommend you check out. Whit, Mike and Melissa were down serving with us slightly more than a month ago. They recorded their experience on a blog and had some great stories and photos. They were also an incredible blessing to us. Take a look at Team Costa Rica and gain a different perspective. Enjoy.

words you don't want to hear...

2008-07-24T19:15:00.005-06:00

Few words strike fear into the heart of modern man than, "Hey dude, I think a tree just fell on your truck." Those were the words I heard yesterday afternoon while we were working with a visiting mission team clearing land and burning wood on our property.

We had been working with the team to clear and burn the trees that we had cut down where we're going to build the house. After several hours of smoke and heat, everyone took a break for water and food. The team had just finished lunch, which ironically, they had eaten in the back of our pick-up and we had all gone back down the hill to resume work when a storm blew in. Suddenly, we heard a loud cracking sound up by the house. We looked up to see the top of a tree come crashing down. A few minutes later, one kind soul wandered down to the fire to inform me that, "Dude, I think a tree just fell on your truck." It has not been an easy two weeks with all of the moving (we're not in the land of U-Haul), running out of water and general bad news concerning our hopes of obtaining a back-hoe to finish our driveway and grade the lot. I was dead tired and frustrated and then I get the news that the tree we watched fall, actually fell on our truck. This could be extremely bad... vehicles are very expensive here as is auto insurance. A million thoughts went through my mind and I really started to wonder how much more I could take. I walked up the hill and saw...

After almost breaking down in front of 20 teenagers, someone said that they didn't really think it was as bad as it looked. Turns out, the tree had missed the cab by about two inches and fell directly on the bed. I figured that at the very least, the bed might be crushed and there might be some problems with the suspension. Thank God...as we looked things over, we realized that nothing at all had happened to the truck. We were able to cut the tree off with a chainsaw and after about 20 minutes, the whole thing was over... or so we thought. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes after our landlord left, we realized that the tree had broken one of the power lines inside the insulation where it wasn't visible. We were without power for the rest of the afternoon, but by 9:00pm Delroy had the problem fixed and we were back in business. It made for a very stressful day but thankfully, it ended with pretty much everything in working order.

One of the things I have realized in our time down here is that the Devil truly is in the details. We don't face persecution. We haven't been run out of town. We don't have to smuggle bibles into the country or any of these things that people face for their faith in other places. What we do face is spiritual opposition in the form of frustration, depression and apathy. Satan has become much more real to me here than ever before and he uses a constant barrage of small things to wear us down. Sometimes it works. I have learned to never underestimate the power of the enemy. He seems to use the small things... things that might go by unnoticed, were they not so constant, to really get us down. We could use your prayers. Satan does not want us to succeed. Satan does not want this place to experience the grace of God and he certainly does not want us to make it as a family. Please pray for us.

What to do when the well runs dry...

2008-07-22T17:21:00.002-06:00

We have spent most of the past week moving in to the house we will be renting until we can complete construction on our new house. We have really enjoyed living in the jungle so far...it is extremely peaceful in the evenings and the mornings. However, the move hasn't been without it's challenges. Our well went dry today (that means no dishwashing, no laundry, no hand-washing, showering and most importantly, no flushing)... and, Makena has diarheah. We also found out that the surveyor made some mistakes on the survey for our future property, delaying ownership (and possibly construction) for up to a month or more. We are feeling rather spent right now and could use some prayer. There is almost too much going on right now to even write about. I'll definitely get back online with some more updates as soon as things settle down.

Temporary Housing

2008-07-09T17:08:00.006-06:00

I've got a few photos to post of the house we'll be living in temporarily while we are building. We plan on moving in this coming weekend and we're hoping everything works out. We need to get the owner to trim down the grass and some of the landscaping so that we're not attracting too many pit vipers into our new abode. Walking up through the jungle, this is what you would see...

Walking a little closer, you begin to get a feel for the three stories of tree-top living we're about to experience...

To truly get a feel for what it's like to live in a tree house, you have to imagine cooking on an easybake oven underneath a beautiful monkey mural. This is a shot of the kitchen...

Finally, a shot of the upper level deck and bedrooms. Home sweet home! It will literally be like camping under a roof. Fortunately for us, it is only about 100 yards away from our property so we can really keep track of construction, etc... It's going to be a change but it will also be an adventure.

A couple of weeks on...

2008-07-08T17:14:00.002-06:00

Last Friday night we started a new curriculum (at least temporarily) with the youth. We're going to be working through a bible study guide called "What Does the Bible Say About Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll?" The first night went well enough and I think it will be interesting enough to hold their attention...at least considering the subject matter. We started off with a case study of five people stranded on two deserted islands. The people in the story were put in a variety of situations where they had to make moral judgements and choices...some of which were bad and some were good. It gave us a good springboard to begin talking about our basis for making decisions which led us into several scriptures that gave us a chance to talk about God's plans and his basis for making decisions. It will be interesting to see how things go over the next couple of months.

Plans have changed a bit for the house. The last time I met with the builder we were planning to use, the "price" of the house went up $30,000. We started to smell something so we decided to do a little asking around. Fortunately, our next door neighbor is getting ready to build a house as well and since he has lived here for close to 18 years, he has a few contacts. He put me in touch with the builder he has worked with in the past and I was able to set up a meeting last week. The meeting went really well and we were able to get an estimate that was much closer to our original design. His architect is working on a set of construction plans for us and we are eagerly waiting for those. We are much more hopeful that things will work out favorably and that we'll be able to build a house that meets our basic needs for a price that we can afford. No more 50% price hikes in three weeks. I'll try to put up some photos in the next few days of the lot as it currently stands and the house that we will be living in while we build. This will be quite a process. We could use some prayer. Thanks, Barrett

happenings

2008-06-25T09:51:00.003-06:00

Time is just flying. Again, hard to believe that it's been almost a month since I last checked in to the old blog. We have been so busy this summer but at the same time, things have been good. The team from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Tucson were hard working and got a lot accomplished at the Rio Negro School (the same school that Makena attends).

About a week before the team arrived, Whit, Mike and Melissa (recent graduates of the Horizon School of Ministry in San Diego) arrived to serve with us for three weeks. Sometimes having people show up to "help" can be very draining and can actually result in more work. This was not the case with these guys. It was awesome having them around. By the time they left, we actually felt refreshed and re-energized which is a really cool thing. I can't say enough good things about them. Their goal was to serve and to help us in any way that they could and they really accomplished both. They helped us host the team from St. Andrews, they worked with the team at the school on a variety of projects, they assisted us with the skatepark, they helped me get some work accomplished out at our property and they (along with some friends from Calvary Chapel Vero Beach) helped Ronnie and Tammy get a few things accomplished out at the house they are building. The good news is that Whit is planning to come back and join us here in Puerto to work specifically with me at the skatepark and with the youth group. I am not sure what is in store yet for Mike and Melissa but if they continue to display the heart and attitudes that they had during their time here I know that God will bless them wherever they go and will bless the people that they work with as well. It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to working with Whit in the near future.

Beyond that... we have made a little bit of forward progress on our house. The access road is about 2/3 complete and the backhoe was able to clear most of the downed wood off of our lot. We've been out doing a little bit of land clearing the old-fashioned way... with fire. It has been a slow process up to this point but I have hope that things will really pick up once the title has been transferred into our name and we are able to get the builder involved. Here are a couple of photos of our lot in the clearing stages.

We have also had to make changes to our plans to live in Pablo's house several miles down the road. About a week prior to moving, he told us that it wouldn't work out because of significant problems he was having with his water supply. He didn't want us to move in and then begin having problems after he left for Spain. I am very appreciative that he was looking out for us but it left us in a tight spot. Fortunately (we'll see...) we were able to set up a deal with Delroy (whom we're buying the lot from) to rent his small farm house for the next 6-8 months while we build. The upside is that we'll only be about 50 yards from our house as it's being built. The downside is that the house is basically like a kid's tree fort, except bigger. It is really basic but it will provide shelter and will be an adventure for the girls. It is about 300 square feet, two story with two bedrooms that are just big enough for mattresses. It's out in the jungle so I am sure that we'll have more strange insect encounters but hopefully between our two dogs and two cats, the snake encounters will be kept to a minimum. I'll post a couple of photos of the house soon.

Lastly, we have been enjoying a visit from Calvary Chapel Jupiter this past week. It is always great to see familiar faces and they have been a real encouragement to us. It was also a great thing to have our pastor, Dan Plourde, take time out of his schedule to come down and be with us for the second year in a row. He is an incredible guy, a great friend and I really admire him. We had plenty of time to talk, reconnect and share war stories. Good stuff. The visiting team is working in the local high school, doing English classes in the afternoons. We have tried something different with this team that really seems to be paying off. Rather than scheduling every second of the day, we purposely schedule quite a bit of "free" time for this team with the hope that they would make some great connections during class time that they could follow up on after school. So far, it really seems to be working. Many of the students have invited members of the team to their homes, out for ice-cream and other activities. The team has really enjoyed their connection time and without formally scheduled events, they have been free to enter into other peoples' lives. This was our hope and it's happening. Please pray that we will find ways to continue the relationships that are made with this team. That's all for now.

2008-05-29T11:03:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update on what's going on in Puerto this week. My truck is back and in good working order (for at least a few months until the roads take their toll again). We also have 5 helpers in to assist with the visiting mission team that arrived yesterday evening. One of our interns is a girl that worked with us last summer hosting teams. Her name is April Woods and she is from the Santa Barbara, CA area. She will be with us for the next 10 days coordinating the mission team's outreach. AJ Rhodes will be with us for the remainder of the summer...until mid-August. He is from Tallahassee, FL and will be assisting us with our summer mission teams and a variety of other responsibilities. We are also fortunate to have the help of Whit, Mike and Melissa, from the Horizon School of Evangelism, for the next few weeks. They are completing a 3 week internship as part of their schooling and we are happy to have them serving with us during that time.

The visiting mission team, from St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ, will be working at the local public school this week doing a variety of things. They will be assisting a local contractor in the re-construction of a classroom at the school. They will also be improving the living conditions for the kindergarten teacher who lives on the school grounds during the week. Finally, half of the team will host a Vacation Bible School for the children next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It is exciting work and we are really looking forward to the opportunity to show people in a very real way that God loves them and is concerned about their well-being...physically as well as spiritually. Please pray for this team and their outreach.

Finally, after 4 years of waiting, 2 lost applications and one denial...we were notified late last week that we had been granted residency. Our lawyer told us that we are the first people in the history of Costa Rica to be granted residency on the basis of our missions work. We originally applied as "rentistas" which meant that we needed to prove we had an income from outside of the country so that we wouldn't be taking jobs from locals. This was denied almost two years ago which meant that we had to try another route. Many missionaries have applied for residency over the years and have been denied but for whatever reason, we were granted residency. It is exciting and means that we will not be required to leave the country for three days every three months. That means a savings of money and of time. Thank God!

More to come...

Two weeks later

2008-04-30T16:25:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been about two weeks since my last post. I picked up my parents in San Jose a little over a week ago and we have been spending quite a bit of time with them. This has been their first visit in over two years and it has been really nice to see them. The girls have been having a great time with them too. Unfortunately, Makena seems to be developing asthma. Ever since she was a baby, whenever she has gotten a cold it seems to have settled in her lungs. She always develops a really dry, hacking cough that just hangs around. She had a cold a couple of months ago and the cough came and stayed for at least a month afterward. Now, the cough has come back and she is having trouble breathing at times. We have used an inhaler a few times with limited success and are going to try a new medicine that her doctor prescribed so we'll see how it goes. We just hate seeing her trying to sleep, coughing so hard that she starts gagging. Please pray for her if you get a chance.

We were supposed to get some work done on our lot today, but wouldn't you know it...the rain kicked in again last night. We need about two dry weeks to get everything done so that the builder can begin. The first thing is clearing out the lot and getting the house-pad ready. even in the absence of OSHA, the tree removal guy isn't too keen on getting up in a 100' tree with a chainsaw if the thing is totally wet and slippery. Can't say that I blame him. We also need to get the road material laid down and we need good, dry conditions for that as well.

In the meantime, we will be moving out of the house we have been renting for the past three years by the middle of June. The landlords want to raise the rent to a place that we can no longer afford to pay. At the same time, our friend from Spain, Pablo, offered to let us stay in the house he is building for free until ours is built. He is going to be leaving for Spain and needs someone to watch his place while he is gone. This is a great blessing for us as we were trying to figure out how we could afford to pay on the loan we need to build our house, while paying rent on our current house at the same time. Now we don't have to worry about it. The catch is that we will be moving our entire family plus two dogs and two cats into a two room (not two bedroom) house that really is in the jungle. It is also quite a bit further from town. Maybe not ideal, but definitely a blessing considering the fix we were about to find ourselves in. Yesterday we drove down to visit and had the priviledge of seeing monkeys in almost every tree on his property. It will definitely be a different way of life for a few months. Please pray for us... It will be a little like "Little House On The Prairie" with a couple of twists. Maybe I'll ask the girls to start calling me "Pa".

Amy's visit to Clinica Biblica

2008-04-12T17:15:00.004-06:00

Well, we're back in Puerto once again. Amy survived her surgery and everything looks good. The doctors wanted to biopsy the tumor just to make sure, but it didn't look like anything to worry about. Thank God for that. Now we are just getting back into the swing of things here with the weekend skate sessions and House Church tomorrow evening.

Last night at Youth Night we watched an incredible film about the horrible things that happened over a decade ago in Rawanda. Everyone has heard of Hotel Rawanda, which was a good movie about a difficult subject, but I almost felt like Beyond the Gates told a better story. It certainly answered the question, "Where was God in all of this?" The movie was difficult to watch but is something that I believe needs to be seen and I also believe that it really shows that people are not naturally good. We are all sinners that fall short of God's glory and without Him, we are all capable of the most horrible things. In the movie, people that had known each other for years became bitter enemies. Neighbor turned on neighbor and an entire society broke down in just a few short days.

Afterwards we had a short time of discussion and talked about the horrible things that humans are capable of and about God's love for us in spite of what we do to each other and ultimately to Him. We also got an opportunity to talk about God's version of love..."no greater love is there than this, that a man would lay down his life for his brother." It was a powerful film that spoke about sin, sacrafice, hope and peace in the middle of horror. It really hit us all hard.

Things are moving along with the house. We are quickly finding out that things are not so "inexpensive" in Costa Rica as they might first appear. We should be finalizing the purchase of the land within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, we are getting ready to install the electric cable, build a road, dig a well, put up a fence and take down a couple of dangerous trees...all just so that we can begin laying the foundation for a house that we don't even have plans for yet. Please pray for us in this...it is going to be a challenge to keep up on the construction while maintaining focus in ministry. I'm about to find out what my parents went through almost 40 years ago when they moved to Uganda as missionaries and had to start by building their own house. God help us! We are still somewhat short on the funding. If you are interested and would like to help us with this, please contact me at "barrett.alternativemissions@yahoo.com" and I can give you details on how to make a tax deductible contribution through Shepherd's Staff Missions Facilitators.

Happenings

2008-04-08T20:58:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are in San Jose again. Alternative Missions is now officially recognized as a Religious Organization (is that a good thing or a bad thing?) in Costa Rica. One good thing that comes from that is that we get to pay lower electricity bills at the skatepark. Another huge benefit is that it should now be much easier for all of our long term staff to get residency. We are hoping to actually have residency within a few more months (although we are not holding our breath). We have been in process now for almost 4 years and the end may now be in sight although I will probably have to actually get a Costa Rican motorcycle license which is no easy feat in itself.

In other news, Amy gets to have outpatient surgery tomorrow afternoon. We would appreciate prayer for that as she will be having a small lump removed from her back. Hopefully it is nothing.

We also just returned from another surf contest on the Pacific. Maili competed in the little girls’ division and surfed great (although she didn’t advance). We were able to spend some good time with a few of the teenagers from the skatepark as well. I really enjoy getting to spend time with them outside of the normal day to day in Puerto. I have found that these trips are the times where we really connect and build deeper friendships and relationships. Too much of the time in Puerto is spent on email or other administrative things which makes it hard to connect with people where they are. It just doesn’t work to demand that people meet me where I am. I have to be where they are…doing what they’re doing…when they’re doing it. More than anything else, purposeful time doing “nothing” is where most of the ministry and discipleship happen…especially with the youth.

Time Flies

2008-03-31T16:05:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe that two weeks have passed since we returned from Panama. What that means is that we've hosted 8 skate sessions, 2 youth nights and 2 house church services along with everything else that goes on in between. Living and working here is interesting to say the least. It can be exhilarating, frustrating, maddening and peaceful...all at the same time. The biggest source of discouragement is watching people begin to grow and change and then fall back into the same old thing again or worse. Exhilarating is seeing the few that are really getting it. God is visibly working in their lives and you can see changes taking place day by day. Of course we will always work for more and of course we will always hope for many but even if three lives are really changed and they are the ones that go on to reach the surrounding community, if that is why God called us here...I'm good.

That being said, we had a good crowd for youth night on Friday. I shared about sharing your faith with others and we watched a surf movie that included several interviews with Christian surfers sharing their faith. I am really hoping that we can reach some of these younger kids before they fall into the traps that seem to bring down just about every other male in town with a few exceptions. Most notable in their growth are Sebas (who I can really see becoming a leader) along with Peace and Jordan who have really developed a love for Jesus. With so many other things pulling at them, they are maintaining their focus on God and on serving him. Please pray that this continues and that God lights a fire under others as well.

In other news, we are getting ready to buy a small plot of jungle so that we can build a house. A friend gave us a generous gift that will enable us to get out of a rental situation that is about to end and have a more stable future here. There isn't much of a decent rental market here in Puerto and the sooner we have something of our own the better. We are very excited about this opportunity and can't wait to get started. Here are a couple of "before" photos of our little plot of jungle.

Can you say "SNAKE!"?

Happenings

2008-03-14T11:08:00.004-06:00

Well, we're back from another short trip to Panama to renew our visas. We left on Monday and returned yesterday late in the afternoon. Since we have to leave Costa Rica for a full three days every three months, we decided we might as well use the time to explore another country. This time, we went to a small town up in the mountains that has become quite the retirement spot for norte americanos (that's most of you if you're not up on your Spanish). I couldn't believe we were still in Central America. The place was beautiful. It took us about five hours of driving to reach Boquete, which is a small mountain town on the Pacific side of the country. It located up in a small valley at the foot of a dormant volcano. The climate is similar to that of San Diego...nice a cool with a constant breeze. What a beautiful place. Here are a few photos from the trip:

This is the view from our truck as we cross the border from Costa Rica into Panama. The bridge is a piece of work...nothing like being able to watch the water flow under your vehicle as you look through the bridge.

Maili and Makena hiking up the trail to Volcan Baru. It wasn't too long after this photo that we started hearing the cries of "Carry me...I can't walk anymore!"

This was definitely one of the more interesting road signs I have ever seen. You know the roads are steep when you see a sign for "Falling Cars".

On the third day, we took some time in the late afternoon to drive around the valley and check out the sights. This was a view of the valley from the mountains above.

We saw some incredible sights on the way back home as well. This is one of the many rivers that we crossed as we headed back to Costa Rica.

One of the funniest things that happened to us on the trip took place in a local ice cream shop. Ice cream cones were only 30 cents, so I decided that I wanted two scoops on my cone. The lady working the counter politely but firmly told me that I was not permitted to have two scoops ...one was enough. I didn't agree but kept my mouth shut. She sort of reminded me of the "Soup Nazi" from one of the old Seinfeld episodes years ago.

Finally, tonight is Youth Night at the skate park. We are going to be having a Bible study on the topic, "Why is it important for me to tell others about Jesus?" Sebas and I got together last week to study and mark down some important verses and yesterday he told me that he is ready to give the study tonight. It should be a good topic and if the past few weeks are any indication, we should have a pretty good crowd and hopefully we'll have some good discussion.

"I give" and other news...

2008-02-13T15:33:00.009-06:00

Alright, after three days and around 9 hours of trying to upload the video interview with Anastasia, I give up. I'll try again but I just couldn't go on after two power cuts and slower than expected connection speeds. I'll just have to stick with photos for now and I'll see what I can do about the video.

We ended up baptizing Downer last Sunday evening and it was great (Anastasia is waiting a couple of weeks more). He was excited and afterwards was grinning from ear to ear. After the baptism, we had a big meal then went out on the beach and sat around a bonfire. We listened to music and spent quite a bit of time praying. It was really refreshing to hear some of the prayers...so genuine and right from the heart. Ryan, a young guy from Nantucket Island in the northeast US joined us for his first time. He has been down here for a couple of months and was recently invited by Jordan to join us at church. He was really excited to find some other believers and is looking forward to growing with us.

In other news, Makena (our baby) started school this week at the local public pre-school. She has been really excited about it and didn't even cry. She just walked right in and started playing with the other kids. It's really cool to have two pretty independent girls that aren't afraid of experiencing new situations. Here are a couple of photos of her first day.

The first picture is of Makena with her uniform, getting ready to leave the house. This photo is in front of her new school room (the same place we dropped Maili off almost three years ago). Hard to believe how quickly time goes by.

Lastly, I'm going to the Pacific with another father next weekend to take about 11 of the local teenagers to a surf contest in the town of Nosara. The Concrete Jungle (our skatepark) is going to sponsor a few of them by paying their entry fee, helping with a place to stay and maybe some food. This is one of the few opportunities that local kids have to do something positive in life. The current national champion is from Puerto Viejo and most of the local kids dream of accomplishing the same thing one day to have a better life. It is also a great opportunity to spend some focused time with the youth. It is amazing to me how many deep conversations and how much spiritual growth have come from the times that I am able to spend with them just "hanging out". We will be leaving Puerto Viejo on the 21st of this month and will return on the 25th. The contest is about $20.00 per person to enter and our hotel will cost about $40-$45 per night (with kids stacked on each other). Please pray for us as we travel and if you would like to sponsor one of the youth or assist us with expenses, email me at barrett.alternativemissions@yahoo.com and I'll let you know how to make sure the funds reach us. Thanks for the prayers.

Anastasia, in her own words

2008-02-09T17:39:00.001-06:00

Anastasia shares a little bit about her experiences at housechurch and the skatepark and her recent decision to follow Christ.

(experiencing technical difficulties with the video. I'll have it fixed soon.)

Mas

2008-02-09T17:08:00.000-06:00

Things are still going better than I expected down here in the Old Harbor (Puerto Viejo) considering what I thought it would be like without so many of our former team-mates. Tomorrow afternoon we are baptizing two of the youth and I’m really excited about that. Downer (who was going to get baptized last year but got talked out of it by others that misunderstand the purpose and meaning of it) is looking forward to it and is ready to make his commitment to Jesus public. His words to me the other day…”Barrett, I gonna get baptize and no one goin’ stop me this time.” Good to hear. Go Downer! The other person getting baptized is a girl we had been praying for for a long time. While we were in the States, Phil asked Sebas to share the gospel and give an invitation to pray. After a lot of exposure and time, Anastasia was finally ready and gave her heart to the Lord. Anyhow, she is excited about her decision and about getting baptized.

I have also been excited to see Jetsi and Sebas take the lead on Friday night youth nights. Last night, we had ten kids that stayed for the bible study which covered one of most asked questions on people’s minds…"If God is so good, how come there is pain and suffering in the world." They did a great job of preparing with me on Wednesday night and were awesome in leading the study and discussion. It is really cool to see them getting excited about serving God and reaching their peers with the truth. After the bible study, about 20 more kids showed up and we stayed open until 9:00pm with lots of fun and music. I continue to hope that more and more of these youth will come early and stay late...taking full advantage of everything the skatepark has to offer...especially spiritually.

Adding to our house church…Pablo, from Spain (who had never even had his own bible until a couple of months ago when we gave him one), Alisa (a 14 year old Italian girl that was invited by Anastasia a little over a month ago) and Ryan (a 17 year old guy from Nantucket who was invited by Jordan and will be staying here in Puerto for a couple more months). Ryan is a new Christian and was so excited to find a group of believers that he was just grinning from ear to ear when Jordan invited him. Way to go Jordan. It definitely isn’t easy and there are too many ups and downs to count but it is awesome to see our little group of Christians growing in size and depth one day at a time.

Act 2:46,47

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Roller Coaster

2008-02-05T17:48:00.001-06:00

"Ministry", whatever that means, certainly has its ups and downs. One day everything seems to be going great and people seem to be catching fire and then the next day you discover something about someone that brings you back to reality...or no one shows up for one of the youth nights that normally draws the largest crowds. What a reminder of how dependent we are on God. While I always want to do my best, in the end it doesn't matter how hip the program is, how good the movies are, how well I speak, or anything else that I can do. The most important thing (which is driven home over and over again) is how dependent we are on the Holy Spirit and the moving of God in peoples' hearts. I have also come to realize (has it really taken this long?) that Satan will immediately follow "success" with "failure". Yet another reason why it is so important not to depend on feelings but on the promises and reality of God.

In other news, we had a miracle today... a real honest to goodness miracle. We were able to obtain both a land line and a cell line for the skate park. To put this in perspective, only residents, citizens or members of a legal association can obtain telephone lines. To top it off, there are usually only about 40,000 new lines available each year. We have tried for almost three years to get a line and today it happened in the space of about three hours. I have spent days trying to accomplish this in the past only to be turned away after spending money on powers of attorney, copies, etc... Today, God answered our prayers and did the equivalent of parting the Caribbean... He got ICE (the government monopoly telecommunications company) to actually accept our documents and to approve everything and give us both a land line and a cell line. We are ecstatic. One good thing happened today. Thank God.

Hermanos in Christo

2008-01-22T16:17:00.000-06:00

Another weekend has passed with all that a weekend brings. Friday night was a lot of fun as we cooked some awesome hotdogs and hamburgers. Kenneth and Downer played the roles of both chef and bouncer as they flipped the meat and kept the vultures at bay. We had about 20 youth show up for the cookout along with a few more stragglers that came by to watch the skating and the videos we are showing on the screen as people skate. Speaking of videos, that was one of the great ideas that Sebas and Jetsi had when we talked a couple of weeks ago about how we could improve Fridays and reach more kids. It has really given those that don't skate more of a reason to stick around and have fun. We also bought some games (dominoes, badmiton and a few others) so that there are more activities each week that will hopefully draw others that aren't necessarily into skating.

After the cookout, we played some games...M&M races (which ended in a chocolate brawl...fortunately the chocolate melted in mouths and not on hands, true to the decades old marketing campaign that we all know and love) and a water balloon shooting contest which was a blast. We recently found two giant water balloon slingshots (which could be quite dangerous in the wrong hands) that we put to good use. Next time we need to put in some food dye so that we can more easily identify who gets hit by whom. Overall, it was a great night and hopefully served it's intended purpose of generating interest and getting more of the youth involved.

Sunday night at house church was different and good. We had about eight visitors from a surf camp in Nicaragua. JJ Yemma, owner of the Popoyo Surf Lodge in southwestern Nicaragua (and also a Christian), had come to town for a visit with several of the local surfers he works with and disciples there. JJ played some music for us (which we've missed since TJ, our former worship leader, left a few months back) and we started the next book of the bible, Ephesians. It was a great opportunity for the Puerto crew to meet and spend some time with their Christian brothers from north of the border. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we had some good discussion to top it off. God is blessing, people are growing and the Word is being spread. I love the fact that God uses a bunch of surfers to spread his truth throughout the world.

That's what I get for thinkin'

2008-01-17T16:50:00.000-06:00

Well, I thought I had posted a couple of photos of the finished deck and bleachers at the skatepark but apparently, I didn't. Here it is in all of it's glory. We finally got it finished (with the exception of adding much needed lighting):

In other news, we're getting ready for tomorrow night's cookout at the skatepark. Food always brings teenagers and we're hoping tomorrow night is no exception. Next week, we'll begin our series of bible studies answering last weeks questions from a biblical point of view. Please pray for us.

Well Done

2008-01-12T17:13:00.000-06:00

Last night went very well. Sebas and Jetsi took the lead at the youth night and did a great job. They stepped up to the plate, took aim at the ball and knocked it out of the park. I was really impressed with how they handled themselves and the material. Last night was "question night". They passed out index cards to everyone that was present and asked them to write down questions that they had about life, God, the bible, relationships, etc... We are going to use these questions to plan our bi-monthly bible studies, using scripture to provide quidance and direction. I am planning to meet with them at least once a week to plan each week's events. My hope is that each week this will be a time of deepening friendships and training and mentoring as they learn how to prepare bible studies and lead their peers into a deeper walk with Christ. Please pray that God will encourage and strengthen as they have really developed a desire to see their friends and families come to know God. This is a new thing for both of them. God has put this in them but as Jetsi told me the other day, "I want to but I just don't know how". I told her that we would figure it out together. Pray that God will strengthen them through the challenge and the frustration so that they can experience the incredible feeling of seeing others come to know Jesus.

The Haps

2008-01-11T11:08:00.000-06:00

First...
God never stops amazing me... I have been a little discouraged lately looking toward the future and knowing that we don't have anyone that is definitely planning to join us here in Puerto. I see so much potential, we have so many needs for staffing and although there are several people that have expressed an interest, nothing is certain at this point. This gets to me because I know what is possible and yet I know that I can't do it all on my own and do it well. The one thing that I have held on to is that God can provide whatever he wants, whenever he chooses. I have specifically reminded myself that at any moment, the right person with the right heart and the right qualifications could show up and be an immediate answer to prayer.

That being said, a couple of nights ago, we went to dinner at a local restaurant that I didn’t really want to go to but went because Amy and the girls wanted. Long story short, we ended up sitting next to a couple that was traveling with their son. They found out that we lived here and asked if we were home-schooling the girls. Turns out, during the course of conversation, we found out that they had lived in Kenya years ago as missionaries and their children had been home-schooled as well. They had lived in Nairobi, Limuru (where we had lived when I was young) and another town on the south coast. They were also good friends with several people that have been long-term friends of our family.

Anyway, they are now involved with Calvary Chapels and live part time in Vero Beach, FL. Their son Whit has been associate youth pastor at the Calvary there in Vero for several years and is now in a bible training school in San Diego run through Horizon Christian Fellowship (a Calvary affiliate). He has been praying for a long time about going into missions and told me that he really has a heart for youth ministry, specifically with skate and surf, and has been wanting to get involved somewhere in Central America. As part of his training, he is required to do a 4 week internship in the field. He is very interested in coming to work here with us to fulfill that internship and also told me that when his training is done in late May or early June, he will be probably be looking for somewhere to plug in permanently. We surfed and talked together for two hours this morning and had some great conversation. He really seems like someone I could work well with and we share many of the same outlooks on ministry. It is really interesting to me that this happened right after I had a couple of conversations with people about my discouragement with our staffing situation where I had specifically said that the only solution I could see right now is for God to just send someone to walk in off the street. I don’t know what will come of it but it definitely lifted my spirits. This was at the very least, a confirmation that God has things in control.

Second...
I am also in the process of planning a short surf trip with a purpose to a small island (Isla Uvita) off the coast of Limon.

I am planning it in conjunction with our neighbor who works with World Vision. We will also be working with a local Costa Rican group that will help us host the retreat by giving presentations and organizing activities. World Vision will most likely contribute half of the cost and we will pick up the remainder. We will be talking about relationships, dating, sex and other related topics from a Christian perspective which is something that is sorely needed.

Top that off with some great waves and a bunch of kids having the run of a "deserted" island and it should be a great and productive time. I am really looking forward to that.

Third...
Last but not least, a couple of the older youth have committed to helping out of Friday nights. Sebas and Jetsi will begin meeting with me each week to plan and prepare for each youth night. Sebas will hopefully being leading the bible studies and Jetsi will assist with games, activities and logistics. They are both good friends and really have a heart to see their town changed by the truth of Jesus. This is a huge thing and I am am looking forward to helping them serve God in their own community. Please pray for all of us.

Time Flies

2008-01-08T15:28:00.000-06:00

Wow, a lot of time has passed since I last posted. It doesn't really seem like it to me because so much has been happening. We returned to Costa Rica on the 14th and got back in to Puerto Viejo on the 16th. It was a crazy transition because as we were returning, Phil and Shannon who had worked with us for almost a year and a half, were in the process of heading back to the States permanently. At the same time, Ronnie and Tammy who are still on our team, were heading back to Honduras for a visit with friends and family. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of information we needed to pass back and forth and it didn't even seem like there was time for proper "good-byes". We lost some good friends in Phil and Shannon and hated to see them go but are excited for their future as they head off to seminary in Dallas.

We also had some visitors right after we returned...friends from Thomasville Road Baptist Church in Tallahassee, FL and a family from Jacksonville that have been instrumental in helping us to construct the skatepark and bleachers. We were busy but the visits were great.

For the past three weeks, it has pretty much been Amy and I holding down the fort. Kid's Church doesn't resume until school starts in early February so that's one program that we don't have to worry about right now. I am teaching and leading the youth program on Friday nights, house church on Sundays (which Amy puts a great deal of effort into hosting), 4 skate sessions a week and all the administrative tasks that go along with those things. In addition, I am trying hard to maintain all of the relationships we have worked so hard to build, which requires getting out of the office and spending time with real, live people. It ain't easy, but it's good.

Christmas and New Year's went off well and we celebrated both at house church. While we were gone, Phil gave Sebas (one of the older youth) an opportunity to share the gospel and give an invitation to accept Christ at one of the youth nights. From what I understand, five youth gave their lives to Christ that night...including one specific girl that we have been praying for. We are going to have a baptism in a couple of weeks, which will be exciting. Pray for these kids as they begin their journey with Jesus. They are excited about their decisions but there is a lot in this town working to derail them...

I'll get on this blogging thing again now that we've settled back into things and I'll make sure to get some photos posted as well. Thanks for your patience.

The Moves

2007-12-05T12:58:00.000-06:00

We had a great time in Tucson and we wanted to show you all a few moves we learned while we were visiting the Southwest. Check it out (click here). Enjoy!

We made it!

2007-11-22T07:50:00.000-06:00

We made it to Arizona (did I mention that Maili had her hair braided before we left?).

This had to have been the most uneventful trip to the States that we've taken yet. Everything went smoothly from beginning to end. I'm now finished with the Alternative Missions leadership conference in Flagstaff, Arizona and we (Amy, the girls and I) have returned to Tucson from the Grand Canyon. We travelled up through Sedona (red rock country) and then stayed for three nights in a little town called Williams. What a cool place. The town was founded at the turn of the century and is right on the historic Route 66, which used to be the country's main east-west travel route. We had two full days in town. On the first one, we checked out the mountains surrounding the town (with a little lake high up above).

Later that day, we traveled to a wonderful little tourist trap where Maili was mauled by ravenous, angry deer.
The next day was the most fun... We rode the Grand Canyon Railway from Williams to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Finally, we got to see the Grand Canyon (Makena remains unimpressed). It is definitely one of God's most incredible creations. I can never get over how deep and wide it is (I'll skip the cheesy, spiritual analogy at this time). Truly breath-taking.

Last but not least, we were robbed by armed bandits on the train ride back to Williams. They galloped up on horseback, boarded the train and took us for all we were worth. Fun stuff!

Takeoff

2007-11-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

Off we go. Tomorrow morning at 7:45 (hopefully) we'll be heading off to Tucson, AZ. After a week of preparation, packing, theft-proofing the house and a million other things our departure date is finally here. It is definitely exciting and we are looking forward to seeing everyone. Immediately after I land, I have five days of meetings with the leadership of Alternative Missions. Then, Amy and the girls will join me and we'll take a trip to see the Grand Canyon (or as Makena says, "the really deep hole in the ground". We'll be there for two days and will then head off to Atlanta to visit some family members we haven't seen in 3-4 years after which we'll go to Tallahassee, FL for about two weeks. Then back to Puerto Viejo.

If you read this in the next few days, please be praying for our safety (and sanity) as we travel. We also ask you to please pray for our house church. For the next five weeks, several of the older guys will be leading the study as they work their way through the book of James. Please pray that God will guide and lead them and that they will continue to look to him for that leading. This is a huge step and I would love nothing more than to come back, find out that they have done an excellent job and then move into a role of teaching and oversight. This is the end goal anyway. I have no idea what will happen. We have been teaching them and modeling church for them for over a year and now it is in God's hands. Please pray for them (Sebas, Peace, Dexter, Jose, Mike, Johanna, Jetsi, Jordan, Anastassia, Pablo, Downer, Kenneth, Kenneth, Dorothy, Eric, and a few others that show up irregularly) daily. This is huge!

Retreat

2007-11-06T17:32:00.000-06:00

We were really blessed last week to get a couple of days away as a team to regroup and say "thanks" for all of the hard work over the past year. We spent two days at a farm up in the mountains about two hours away from Puerto Viejo. If you are ever thinking about taking a trip to Costa Rica, I would highly recommend Finca Maquenge Falls(http://www.fincamaquenguefalls.com/). The owners are really nice people and they treated us like royalty. The property was awesome with waterfalls, horseback riding lots of cool things for the kids and great food. If you come to visit, take a couple of days on your way in or out and check this place out.

Happenings

2007-11-06T08:57:00.001-06:00

One thing is for sure... no matter where you are in the world, funny is funny. This is certainly true for me. Anyone that has known me for very long knows that I have a lot of trouble trying to keep from laughing in serious situations. For some reason, the more pressure and the more serious the situation (church, funerals, etc...), the more likely I am to start laughing. Even at 39 years old, if it's funny, I'm going to start laughing.

This short video is from an outreach we did with our youth group this past summer in a part of San Jose called "Little Hell". If there's one lesson we can all learn from this, it is to make sure the song you are singing is within the range of your voice... and if you're watching something like this happen, sit in the back.

My mom would have been pinching the daylights out of me if she had been with us at this outreach.

More Progress

2007-11-02T14:05:00.001-06:00

Here we are...we are getting close to having a roof. Take a look at the steel construction. This baby ain't going nowhere.

Highlights

2007-11-02T13:15:00.000-06:00

We returned last night from our annual team retreat. It was a nice, relaxing way to thank everyone on our team for all of the hard work they have put in over the past year. The first evening, we took some time to share some of the highlights from the past year. Ronnie (a long-time member of our team) shared what had impacted him the most over the past year and it is definitely worth passing on. It's also a great example of how interconnected our lives are as Christians.

Over two years ago, the first area of ministry that was established was the children's program. Ronnie had started a bible study in Spanish with a few of the parents whose children were attending. One Sunday, my parents happened to be visiting from Florida. During the bible study, which only included two local ladies, my dad (who only speaks English) asked Ronnie, "Do these ladies (who only speak Spanish) know the Lord?" Ronnie stopped the study and asked them. One said yes and the other (Adriana) said no. Ronnie asked her if she'd like to follow Christ; she said yes and we stopped and prayed right there.

Over the course of the next year, Adriana continued to grow and slowly got more and more involved. She is now one of the leaders of the OANSA (AWANA's) program and she and her husband also host the Spanish house church at their house. Last year, after living together for over 11 years, she and her husband, Ronolfo (on the left next to Ronnie and Tammy), got married out of a desire to honor God and set an example for thier three children.

Because of her participation and the changes that were taking place in her life, Adrianna's husband began getting more and more involved and soon involved his brother (William) who is now a leader at the Children's program. William became a Christian over 20 years ago but had basically gone no further in his relationship with God and had not even attended church during that time. He has been faithfully attending the Spanish house church now for over a year.

The highpoint of all of this is that Ronnie was recently invited to a Men's bible study way back in the jungle behind Puerto. When he arrived, he was pleasantly surprised to see William leading 20 men in a bible study modeled after the housechurch that Ronnie has been leading. There were 20 men in attendance. That was definitely a highpoint for Ronnie and for the rest of us on the team. It shows that God works in so many different ways and that each of us can impact so many others...many times never knowing the outcome. Ronnie was faithful to teach, my dad was faithful to see the gospel shared with two women with whom he couldn't even communicate and as a team we have been faithful to model Christ in our lives and our ministries. In turn, God has been faithful to work, bless and change lives for His glory and as a result the bible is being taught in the jungle where previously nothing was happening. Cool stuff.

More Progress

2007-10-27T16:49:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to leave you all with a couple of photos of the deck as it stands right now. The Lifechurch team was awesome. They worked hard all week, had great attitudes and were also a lot of fun. We got quite a bit of work accomplished and by the end of the week, we had all of the main portion of the deck in place. It really came in handy last night at the youth event as we finally had a place for people to sit, stand and hang out.

Man of Peace

2007-10-27T15:57:00.000-06:00

There's a great book called Church Planting Movements that was given to me by Steve Vaughn, missions pastor for Thomasville Road Baptist Church. It's an awesome book that has really encouraged us (and taught us a lot) as we put together our house church planting program. One of the things that the book encouraged church planters to do was to look for a "man of peace" when they entered a town (Luke 10:6). Finding and building a relationship with this "man of peace" was a good first step in planting and establishing a church. Little did I suspect that we would actually meet a man named Peace.

Last night was the final night of the Lifechurch outreach. We hosted a special youth night with some crazy games, hotdogs and hamburgers and a really great time teaching. We had between 30 and 40 youth show up and let me tell you, it was total chaos...and a lot of fun. After the food and fun, everyone gathered in the skate park to hear Peace's story. Peace (below right) shared about his life growing up in one of Limon's toughest neighborhoods and how he almost died several years ago from an overdose of crack. He explained how caught up he had been in himself and how it had almost cost him his life. He then told about his journey in coming to know Christ. Peace had an interest in spiritual things for many years but it was a mix of rastafarianism, Christianity and new age beliefs...along with a lot of confusion.

Five months ago, Peace accepted Christ as we prayed together one night on the steps of the cafe after a night of skating. Since that night I can honestly say that I have never witnessed the renewal that God can bring to someone's life and mind as clearly as I have seen it take place with Peace. Last night was the culmination of that journey as Peace, a new Christian, stepped in front of 40 of his friends and neighbors and shared about the impact Jesus had made on his life. he didn't hold back as he challenged everyone within listening distance to open their hearts and make the same decision to follow Jesus that he had made. He was clear that there are still struggles and anyone that knows him would understand that following Christ doesn't automatically bring health and wealth. Peace was clear that following Jesus brings forgiveness for sin and a sense of purpose that he had looked for all of his life.

This was Peace's first time speaking in front of a crowd and he was incredible. God spoke through him. While he spoke, there was no joking or talking. Everyone gave him their attention and when he finished, there was an immediate eruption of applause. Peace isn't a bible scholar but he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is real and that He changes lives. He shares his new faith with everyone he meets and has a new story for us each week at house church. I would not be surprised (especially after last night) to see Peace leading a house church in the near future. Such is the grace and power of God. Funny thing...we came looking for "the man of peace" and God blessed us with a man called Peace.

Update

2007-10-25T15:05:00.000-06:00

For all of you that have been waiting breathlessly, here's another construction update. We've almost completed the decking, although we are still a long way from being finished. As you can see, we still need to add the bleachers along the front of the deck and the roof (to keep out the tropical rains). We have also come close to finishing the roof over our entry gate. Here's a photo of that project.

Tomorrow night, we'll be hosting a big cookout and outreach for the local youth. We took some flyers by the high school today so we're hoping for a big turnout. Anyone that has ever worked with youth knows that food is a big selling point. Should be fun.

Just for kicks, I have no idea how many people check this thing. I think it's one of the best ways of keeping everyone up to date but I wonder how often it's getting used. If you are reading these updates from time to time, please take a minute and hit the comment link at the bottom of the update, then send me a short note to let me know you are reading. We'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Beat

2007-10-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

Right now, I'm feeling like I'm about to burst into flames. We worked all day in the hot (and I mean hot) tropical sun. We've had a lot of rain lately so it's really nice to have good, clear weather for the work that we're doing, but let me tell you, it gets hot working next to a metal trailer with the sun reflecting up from the decking. I just want to get in the water and soak for a while. Here are a couple of additional photos that show what was done today. In addition to the deck, we are putting a roof over our front gate to protect the wood from the sun and rain (and to protect us when we're unlocking it during our torrential downpours). Enjoy!!!

Progress

2007-10-23T13:56:00.000-06:00

This week we are fortunate enough to have a group from Lifechurch (Oklahoma) here to work with us. We are in the process of putting the wood on the deck which will give us a great meeting and viewing space next to the skatepark. It is really exciting to see this work progress. I can't wait until it's done. Here are a few photos that show what's taking place.

Here you can see the progress that we made by mid-day. Later this afternoon we will begin laying the decking over the beams. No job is without it's trouble and we've run into a few problems but things are coming along. I'm hopeful we'll be finished by the end of the week.

One cool thing that happened to day is that several of the guys from house church stopped by to help. Here, Jose, Peace and I are hand-planing the sharp edges off of the two by fives for the deck.

Dirty

2007-10-18T08:02:00.001-06:00

I'm feeling a little "third world" today. It's hard to imagine drought in the rain forest. Especially since it has rained two out of the last three days. But, that's where we are...drought.
What that means is that our water is regularly getting cut off every afternoon at 5:00pm (just when you get home from work and want a shower) and isn't turned on again until around 6:00am the next morning. That means every afternoon we have to fill up buckets and pots so that we have enough water to flush toilets, bath and cook.

Fortunately, it's not as bad as it was a few months ago. Back in May the water was cut off by 1:00pm every day and wasn't turned on again until 5:00am. To top it off, we went through about a month of electricity rationing with rolling, unannounced blackouts. Talk about frustrating...try having no water and no electricity at the same time. Oh well, we're not in Kansas anymore (Florida either for that matter). It's just a part of life here on the edge of civilization.

Getting Closer

2007-10-17T11:50:00.000-06:00

Construction is ongoing at the skatepark. We are almost ready for the mission team that will be joining us next Monday. They will be installing the wood decking on the new covered deck that will adjoin the skatepark. Right now, most of the steel beams are in place and the deck frame is being welded into place. I can't wait for the construction to be completed for a couple of reasons. First, it has been quite a process to oversee construction in a timely and efficient way in a developing country. Second, it is going to be an awesome place for people to gather and enjoy the skating. Here is a photo that shows where we are in the process as of today.

Forced Re-entry

2007-10-17T09:46:00.000-06:00

It is amazing how quickly time passes when we're busy. It's almost been a month since I last posted, but it sure doesn't seem like it's been that long. Last week, we had to leave for Panama again. Every three months, we are required to leave for a minimum of three days to renew our tourist visas. Several months before we moved down, we applied for residency and were told in no uncertain terms that we would be approved within just a few months. Three years later,

our residency application along with all the paperwork, have been "lost" by the immigration office for the second time. We can't even find out the status of our application at the moment.

Anyway, until we have residency status, we are living and working here under a tourist visa which must be renewed every three months.

The closest place for us to stay are the islands of Bocas del Toro in Panama. This time we stayed on the island of Basitmentos which at the moment, has no roads and only one small town of rickety houses built on the water and up the side of a hill. The place we stayed was owned by a self-described former East-German anarchist. Breakfast and dinner are cooked and eaten family style with the owners, their helpers and anyone else that may be staying at the "hotel" which is really a small house with four rooms and one private bath. The owner was quite a character and refers to himself as Tio Tom (Uncle Tom). We had an interesting discussion about our choice of careers (read "calling") and he was quite proud to tell us that he beat up the last missionary he ran in to. I guess the guy got really pushy and was also extremely defensive about his way of thinking to the point of being insulting. Rather than walking away and difusing the situation, this missionary escalated it to the point of a fist-fight on a bridge linking Costa Rica and Panama, all in front of the border guards and a crowd of spectators. Anyway, we had an good conversation and he was interested in what we do. He especially liked our work with the youth.

My point is this...you never know who you will meet and what their experiences with Christians have been. One thing I know... in every conversation and every "chance" meeting, we're either building bridges or building walls. This is true even during a required visit to Panama to renew visas. Let's make sure we're sharing Christ, not defending ourselves. Let's build bridges instead of fighting on them.

Here's a picture of Maili getting a little R&R on the dock in front of Tio Tom's.

Walking

2007-09-26T15:06:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago, my good friend Bryon Mondok gave me a book to read. The book was entitled “The Master Plan of Evangelism” and the focus was on Jesus and the way he raised up the 12 men that answered his call of “Follow me”. It didn’t go overboard with formulas and strategies. Most of the focus was on relationships. It encouraged the reader to focus on the few for the good of the many. The reality is that Jesus spent the majority of his time with twelve men. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they went on to change the world. We are here in large part because Jesus focused his efforts on twelve men that said “yes”. Whenever my mind begins to turn to numbers as a measure of success, I remind myself that it’s depth that counts and that much of that depth comes from just being willing to spend time with someone…letting them know that they are important. Here are a couple of short stories that demonstrate this truth.

Recently, I was running some errands and had invited my friend D. along. As we were talking, D. mentioned something that made me realize just how much takes place without words ever being spoken. D. told me that he had never really wanted to get married. He never saw the need for it and truthfully, had never even considered having a family and committing to one person for the rest of his life. That is until he began spending time with Amy and me and one of the other couples on our team. Here in this culture, men are trained to have as many women as possible, almost from the day they are born, and the results are heartbreaking. D. hadn’t been exposed to anything outside of this way of life. As have gotten to know him and spend time with him, he has seen that there is a different way to live. As he has grown in his walk with God, the things he wants out of life have begun to change and one of the key elements in this is that he finally has someone to walk this road with him…to model the Christian life for him. It’s having an impact.

This past Monday morning S. dropped by the house as we were eating breakfast. We invited him in to join us and the first thing he said with a huge smile on his face was how much he had enjoyed house church the night before. He said that it was awesome and that he had such a good time (this was after a hardcore message about the final judgment and heaven and hell – see Matt. 25). His face just lit up as he talked about the evening and the impact it had on him. Shortly after that, as we were talking, he paused for a moment and then told me, “Barrett, you’re like my dad. You feed me, you surf with me and you spend time with me.” He wasn’t telling me that I was similar to his dad. He was telling me that I take the place of his dad who left him and his mother several years ago and now lives on the Pacific. Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time with Sebas and he has grown immensely as a Christian. He is one of the older youth that is the most excited about sharing his faith with others. He sees it as a privilege. But this wasn’t true before he had someone to walk alongside him and encourage him.

If God blesses me enough here in Puerto Viejo to have a significant impact on a few then that’s what I want to do. In the end, they are the ones that will eventually reach their community and their culture with much more of an impact than we ever could. God is using us to get something started. To come alongside people and show them that there is a different way to live. A way created by a God that loves them and wants to change them in more ways than they could ever imagine.

I don’t say any of this to blow my own horn. I say it to encourage you. It’s hard to imagine the impact you can have on someone’s life just by living your life for Christ alongside them. Years ago it happened to me through a friend in Arizona named Paul Almquist. I had gotten away from the church and had a distant relationship with God. Amy and I had just started attending Calvary Chapel in Tucson. We met Paul and his wife through some friends. Paul was the guitarist for the worship team but he never acted like this made him special or put him on a higher spiritual plane. One day he invited me to go mountain-biking with him and it soon became a regular weekend event. Paul never preached at me, he did life with me. One of the only things he would do is ask if he could pray before we went riding each week. I hadn’t prayed regularly in years, so this . Spending time with Paul made being a Christian real for me. He showed me what it was like to live in the world but not be of the world...life as a Christian outside of the Christian bubble. That made an impact on me. Paul, you are one of the main reasons that we are doing what we’re doing. God used you in my life and in many ways He is continuing to use you to reach this community here in Puerto Viejo. There have been other Paul’s in my life… my dad, my friends Norm Jaeger and Todd Harper. It’s because of friends like these that D. and S. are following Jesus.

Be someone else’s Paul or Todd or Norm or Billy (my dad). Come alongside them and walk with them. You never know what might happen in the future. After all, the world as we know it is a different place because Jesus spent time with 12 men.

Balancing Act

2007-09-26T11:08:00.001-06:00

Ever feel like this? This picture is a pretty good description of how I feel at the moment. I think it’s a pretty good description of how we all feel right now. There are so many different things going on right now that it’s hard to keep up. This week our team is preparing for some pretty important meetings with Jeremy from our home office in Phoenix. We are going to be reviewing the past year (goals and accomplishments), looking ahead to next year and at the same time we will be trying to figure out how we are going to stay on top of everything as we lose some of our critical team members. We are trying to decide what we do for the coming year so that we can remain focused on the most critical aspects of our work and lives. One thing is for sure, people have to be the priority. Please pray for us.

Blown Away

2007-09-19T15:33:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I am just blown away by the things that go on behind the scenes. There are always two sides to life...the life that is seen and the life that is unseen. Here, the differences between those two sides of life can be extreme. I found out the other day that one of the older youth I'm friends with recently made a life changing decision...for the good. He had been playing around with the badboy/gangster lifestyle, to the extent that he was actually considering joining up with a heavy duty gang from up the road. It got to the point that he actually suited up one night for his initiation. They were planning to make an assault on a group of Columbians with assault rifles, bullet-proof vests, etc... As he was getting ready to go out, he backed out at the last minute and decided that this wasn't for him. It was about that same time that he was invited to our house church and began coming regularly. Now he's there every week, bible in hand and taking notes. He is learning to follow Jesus and his life is changing. What is incredible is that I would never have guessed it from this particular guy. He is soft-spoken, kind and gentle. We love having him in our home and have really enjoyed seeing his life change. That doesn't mean that he's safe. The temptations here are strong and the pull from friends and family alike is intense but thank God, he's made the decision to put those things aside and travel the way of Jesus. This is only one story among many that I am constantly finding out about.

As I learn more and more about this place and the struggles people face, I am amazed. I guess it backs up what Paul wrote when he said that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. We've had youth in our home that have robbed tourists and locals alike at gunpoint, but when they are with us they are polite and genuinely thankful that someone cares about them enough to spend time with them. To see them really interested in the things of God shows me that hope never dies.

Please pray for our team as we work and live here. We are going through some major changes as some long-term team members are returning to the States to continue their educations. This leaves us very dependent on God as we pray for Him to raise up locals and send down more likeminded people to join us in serving Puerto Viejo. Specifically, we need a person to take over all of the duties associated with bringing in Short Term Mission teams and our location administration. We are also looking for someone to take on the youth and skate ministries on a full time basis and finally, we are praying for a couple to come down and open the music cafe/coffee shop. Never in my life has it been more evident that the fields are white for the harvest but th workers are few. Please pray for the community and our team.

2007-09-18T10:40:00.000-06:00

We've completed the foundation and are hoping to begin construction of the steel supports for the new deck we're building around our storage container. We use the container for a variety of things including the storage of tools and construction materials, short term mission team supplies and most importantly, all of our skate equipment. In the future, this entire area will be a covered wooden deck that will wrap around three sides of the trailer. It will include stadium seating adjacent to the skatepark, a safety railing and full wrap around bar which will provide parents with a great place to work on their computers, talk and watch their kids skate. Everything were doing is centered around relationships, both building them and deepening them. This is one more way that we can encourage the involvement of families both with us and with each other. If you'd like to get involved financially with this project, please contact me through the "comment" section below and I'll tell you how you can specifically get involved. I'll continue to post photos as the work moves forward. We're planning to host a team from Lifechurch in Oklahoma in mid-October and will be trying to complete the installation of the deck with them. Please pray that everything will go according to plan and that the work will be completed within the next couple of months.

Happenings

2007-09-18T10:04:00.000-06:00

Computer troubles are getting me down. Fortunately, when I bought my computer two years ago, I purchased the extended warranty which even applies here in Costa Rica. Today I am waiting for a technician to come over from San Jose to repair the monitor. Hopefully, by the end of the day I'll be back in business on my own computer.

In all, things are going well. Maili had her first ballet recital last week at one of the local elementary schools. She has been taking ballet (in the jungle of all places) for about 4 months now and is doing really well. It is a great way for her to get out of the house and make some new friends as well. Homeschooling down here can be very isolating as there are no homeschool groups or co-ops. We have to be very intentional about getting her involved with others. In this picture she is getting ready for the recital with her friends Paulina and Camila.

I am also including a really cool photo from a recent thunderstorm. I took this photo late at night from our porch. It was amazing to sit there and watch the lightning shoot through the air out over the water. This particular night was very dark and the sky just lit up ever time a bolt of lightning was released. It can be hot, sticky, buggy and sometimes downright frustrating living here but God seems to send these types of things along often enough to make us appreciate the opportunity we have been given.

Saying Goodbye and Getting Older

2007-09-03T17:22:00.001-06:00

Last week we said goodbye to April Wood (right) who spent her entire summer helping us host short term mission teams, serving and discipling and building relationships with the youth. What an incredible helper she was. We enjoyed having her on our team and she certainly displayed an attitude of humility. Hopefully, she'll come back and work with us again one of these days. Thanks for everything April.

This past Saturday, we celebrated Maili's eighth birthday. We had her party out on the beach, underneath the coconut palms in front of our house. Lots of friends were there and we had a great time together. It's hard to believe she was only five when we first moved here. Man, how time flies. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAILI!!!!

2007-08-29T19:32:00.000-06:00

We had an incredible night this past Sunday at our housechurch. For the first time I can remember, the evening was really in the hands of the people that are attending as they encouraged each other and shared and prayed about the things that are going on in their lives. All of this began as we studied Matthew 24 and looked ahead to the future. I left that night with the distinct feeling that "they really are getting it". Right before our eyes we are seeing lives being changed. We're seeing minds being renewed and we're seeing people becoming eager to have an impact for Christ in their own hometown. That is exciting to participate in. I'm including a photo of our friend Jose who is going through a very difficult time at home. The skatepark and our housechurch have become a major source of strength and comfort for Jose as he learns to give his troubles over to Jesus. Please pray for him when you get the chance. He's an awesome guy and God is really working in his life.

In other news, we (me and the family) are in San Jose again. We came in on Monday so that I could go to my last dentist appointment and then we were planning to pick up a new intern this morning and bring her back to Puerto with us. Unfortunately, she missed her plane and was delayed until this evening. I'm actually waiting at the hotel right now and will be leaving for the airport in about a half hour.

San Jose by nature is not a fun, family friendly city. We usually visit the mall when we're here but there aren't too many safe, fun places to hang out while we're waiting for appointments, etc... This time was the same as usual until mid-morning when our new helper called to let us know she was delayed. Once we found out, we had some time to kill so we decided to go and see one of the nearby volcanoes. It turned out to be a great afternoon filled with cool mountain air (including a slight smell of sulfur) and incredible views. We actually got to walk around in the upper portion of the volcano's crater and looked down into a large lake that fills the lower, main crater. The views on the drive up reminded me of scenes from The Lord of the Rings. We were actually up above several large thunderstorms that were soaking the valley below. We ended up having a great time together and got to see some things that we haven't been able to see since we've been here. Unfortunately, we didn't bring our camera on this trip because we had no idea we'd have any free time. I guess this goes to show me two things: first, you never know what to expect when you come to San Jose and second, always bring the camera.

Changes

2007-08-24T15:01:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week we said goodbye to the last team of our summer season. It was a whopper of a team...37 people, and most of them were teenagers. We had a great time with them and got quite a bit of work done as well. Since the group was so large, we divided them up into three smaller groups of 12-13 people each. One group went into town each day and worked at the local high school...painting and maintenance. The other two groups worked at the property each day, sanding, varnishing and cleaning the grounds. They also spent quite a bit of time each day with several of the local youth who really enjoyed the interaction.

Speaking of local youth, I have heard a couple of comments recently that really made an impact on me. A couple of days ago, a friend of mine that is the missions pastor of a large church in Florida said that on his last visit, he really saw a huge difference in the spiritual maturity of the youth we have been working with... that he can really tell that they are growing in their faith This means a lot because this was his third visit. He has come to see us each year that we have been here and has witnessed our work grow from nothing to what is happening now with the house churches, skate-park and AWANA's program.

I also had a friend tell me some amazing things. He has lived in Costa Rica since he was 18 and has been visiting Puerto Viejo for over 15 years. He said that he can't remembers a time when he saw so many teenagers' lives being changed and so many of them hungry to learn about God. He went on and on about the changes he is seeing in specific individuals' lives and directly attributed it to the work we are doing. I don't share this to toot my own horn but to let anyone reading this know that God is doing amazing things through your prayers and support. Lives are being changed and God is working in incredible ways and it is happening one life at a time as we live life together with our brothers and sisters here in Puerto. Sometimes all it takes is someone that is willing to say yes to God, to come alongside others...giving them to strength and encouragement to live for Him.

Family Time

2007-08-14T16:39:00.000-06:00

Every now and then we get some time to ourselves. This past Saturday was a lot of fun as we took a trip to a waterfall about a half hour drive away. We brought Sebastian, one of the older youth, with us along with a family that lives in the next town. It was beautiful. The waterfall is about 70 feet tall and you have to hike through the jungle to reach it. Here are a few photos from the trip.

The Ripple Effect

2007-08-09T11:47:00.000-06:00

Lots of things are happening...too much to keep up with. I wanted to post this note I recently received from our stateside director regarding several people that visited us last month with the mission team from SkateChurch in Steamboat Springs, CO. Good stuff and it goes to show that God is using this location to work in the lives of more than just the people here in Puerto. Vince was one of the oldest members of the team and a really cool guy. It's awesome to see how God used his time here in Puerto to draw him into relationship with Him.

Ok, so here’s the deal….sitting here in the office all the time, I’m rarely able to be witness to the awesome things that are happening in the lives of those you guys are ministering to on a day to day basis. However, being here in the states, I am able to follow up on the lives of those who have participated in a short term outreach and what God is doing in and through them. Well, this last weekend I drove 15 hours north to the BEAUTIFUL town of Steamboat Springs, CO and spent the weekend with Buck and Tara. While I was there I went and shared at Uzoa Church, (Buck and Tara’s church) and also heard the team share about their experiences. After service there was a baptism service and some of the team was getting baptized. Jessie and Ryan got baptized as did Bucks 10 year old son, Hunter, (he was the one who couldn’t make it down this summer because of his mom). It was a great service.

The awesome news was that Vince got baptized too. Vince was the big tall guy who cooked us all lunch that one day. It seems that since the trip, Vince’s life has been radically changed. His girlfriend Gretchen came and thanked me and you guys for the work that is happening in PV and how it has changed Vince’s life. Vince is a HARD CORE believer in prayer. You should hear the guy pray…it’s awesome! He’s charging for Jesus and he attributed his faith to the time he spent in PV. When he spoke at church, he spoke of each of you and the work you guys are doing. He was really blessed by everyone and God really got a hold of him in a major way!

You see, house churches, children’s church, skate ministry, café’s and more are all incredible parts of what we do, but short term missions is another AMAZING way that we partner together in ministry. Yes, these teams are coming down and doing some amazing work, but God is also bringing them down and doing amazing work in them. You guys are doing a great job. Your lives and work are not only affecting change in Puerto Viejo, but lives are being transformed all across the US. Keep charging team…I’m proud of you guys!

Jeremy Dyck
Alternative Missions

Another Baptism

2007-07-30T14:34:00.000-06:00

Last week I had the privilege of baptizing two of my friends from house church. Peace, who became a Christian about three months ago, and Dexter, who chose to follow Christ about a year ago, were baptized in the Caribbean Sea that they love so much. It was a really cool evening. After the baptism, we celebrated with a big dinner and then built a huge bonfire on the beach in front of our house and worshipped God together. I love seeing the changes that are taking place in their lives as they follow Jesus, step by step.

Busy Times

2007-07-30T14:20:00.000-06:00

Wow! is all I can say. We have been so busy for the past few weeks that I haven't had time to get online other than to respond to necessary emails. Some big things have happened over the past few weeks and although it will be hard to put it all down here, I'll give it a go. Right after Calvary Jupiter left town, we took 15 of the youth and young adults on a retreat up to the mountains outside of San Jose. Nothing like that has ever been done before and we didn't know what to expect. It turned out better than I had imagined it could. We met up with a combined mission team from two churches in the states (Thomasville Road Baptist Church from Tallahassee, FL and 1027 Church from Atlanta, GA). The retreat was held at a friend's goat farm on the side of a volcano named Barva.

Our focus was Christian living and service to others. It was an incredible opportunity to take the youth out of their normal surroundings so that they could focus on their relationship with God and with each other. Over the course of four days, we taught four separate bible study lessons. On the second day, we took the group on a missions trip to San Jose to a really dangerous section of town called Little Hell (one of the biggest crack distribution centers in CR). A local pastor provides several opportunities for the children that live in this area to hear about God and his love for them. We spent several hours with the group of around 50 children. I was so impressed to see how the group from Puerto Viejo reached out to them, sang songs, played games and just spent time with the children. One of our friends even gave his testimony, which is a huge step for him. Here are a few photos (to be added shortly) from the trip. The end result was that the group became much closer in their relationships with God and with each other. It was great!

Plans

2007-07-09T14:48:00.001-06:00

Although we have a team arriving this coming Saturday, we are already in the process of planning for the next team which will arrive in early August. If everything runs smoothly, we will begin constructing a 3-sided deck and stadium seating around the metal container that houses all of our skate equipment. Once this project is completed, we will have the perfect venue for parents to watch their children and get to know each other. We will also have a great place for viewing our next annual skate competition which should take place next New Years Eve. Please pray that our permits come through and that everything goes smoothly. We have a lot of pre-work to set up so that it's possible for the August team to complete their portion of the project.

Crazy

2007-07-09T14:37:00.000-06:00

Wow, things have gotten busy and crazy. I took the Calvary Jupiter team back to San Jose on Monday of last week but it seems like it was yesterday. There has been so much to do to get ready for the next team that I feel like I haven't had time to turn around. One of our friends on the CalJup team helped us immensly with some of the computer problems we have been having. I had to completely reformat the hard-drive of my laptop and it has taken me the better part of a week to get back online with emails, etc... Now, things seem to be working smoothly and I am able to send and receive emails as well as get online to post new blogs...

This coming Saturday morning we are leaving Puerto Viejo with a group of youth for a 4 day retreat. We'll be meeting a combined team from Thomasville Road Baptist Church (Tallahassee, FL) and 1027 Church (Atlanta, GA) up in the mountains above San Jose. It is going to be an interesting experience to say the least and I am really excited about it. The visiting mission team has been planning all of the bible studies and activities for our time together. We will be focusing on the topic of Christian living...basically what it means to live life for God. We will be hosting four separate sessions as well as games and activities with the group from Puerto.

On the third day, we are going to take the PV youth group into one of the poor neighborhoods in San Jose so that they can experience a mission trip of their own. It will give them a chance to serve others as well as experience the other side of missions first-hand.

Our last day will be spent rafting down the Pacuare river, half-way between San Jose and Puerto. I am really excited about this trip and the opportunity to get these guys out of the day-to-day and let them see what it is really like to focus on your relationship with God without all of the normal distractions. It should be an incredible experience for all of us.

SK8 Church says goodbye

2007-06-28T09:38:00.000-06:00

Although this post is a little late, it was too good of a photo op to pass on. Here is a photo of the SK8 Church team on their next to last night in town. The youth have continued to ask about them since they left and are already hoping for a return visit. This team really made an impact on personal levels...

Chaos

2007-06-28T08:40:00.000-06:00

The term "chaos theory" describes systems that appear to be random and disordered, but in reality posses an underlying order. Chaos theory also describes a lot of what takes place here in Puerto Viejo. On the surface, things can appear to be quite disordered, especially to someone that is not familiar with the culture and the people. However, whether it’s a session at the skate park or a day in the classroom at the collegio (high school), there is usually an underlying order to things that might not be readily recognizable at first glance.

The past few days, the visiting mission team from Calvary Chapel Jupiter (Jupiter, Florida) has been hosting ESL classes at the local high school. The high school is a one room building with acoustics that seem to magnify even the slightest sound into a roar equivalent to a jet taking off. It can be really difficult for someone that is not used to it to maintain focus, but it’s not as much of a problem for someone that is used to the underlying order.

The first day was got pretty crazy as kids were coming and going throughout the lessons and a few scuffles even broke out. It was quite an experience and I think was a little overwhelming for the team but things worked out and despite the craziness, the kids really enjoyed the interactions. They are used to learning this way as it is often the way things are. Anyway, the second day was much smoother and things really seemed to take on a good flow. The interactions were good and the kids and the team really enjoyed their time together.

At the end of the week, will the high school kids be fluent in English? No, but that’s not really the point. The purpose of these classes is to build relationships in order to gain an opportunity to really pour into the lives of the students over the long run. Visiting teams are only here for a week or two at most, which isn’t really a lot of time, but they add so much to the long-term work we’re doing. Through their sacrifice of time and effort, they help us to build and establish relationships with people and institutions that would be next to impossible for us to do on our own. Missions work truly is a partnership as the different parts of the body come together and work as one to share the hope of Christ to people that are searching. While it might seem like madness at times, there is an underlying order to things… it’s all a matter of perspective.

Cal Jup 2

2007-06-26T10:43:00.000-06:00

This is my first day back online since Calvary Jupiter arrived. So far, we have had a great time with a great team. It was also great having Dan, our pastor and friend, down for a few days to see what the church has been supporting and praying for the past few years. We had a chance to go rafting together and yesterday, went looking for howler monkeys which we finally found at the last possible place we could check.

This week is a good but full week. Each morning, the team is hosting ESL classes at the local high school. It is a chaotic but good time and the students really enjoy the interaction. Through outreaches like this, we are able to build more relationships with youth and the visiting mission team really gets a chance to plug into the community in a meaningful way. In the afternoons, the team is doing light construction here at the skatepark. We are working to finish as much of the structural work in the cafe so that in the future, when someone joins our team to open and operate the cafe, all that will remain will be the layout and decorating of the restaurant. It's great having friends in town and I'm really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the week holds.

Cal Jup

2007-06-21T23:01:00.000-06:00

I'm in San Jose tonight getting ready to meet Calvary Chapel Jupiter at the airport tomorrow morning. This is exciting because this is our home church and we have been waiting and hoping that they would be able to come down for a long time. We have some friends on the trip and some others that will become friends. I'm really excited for the opportunity we will have to show them around our new hometown and to introduce them to our friends. During the week, we will be working at the local public high school, hosting ESL classes in the morning and some light construction at our property in the afternoon.

I have really enjoyed seeing how each team that comes down adds more brush strokes to this painting we have been working on. Each team brings their own touch and reaches out to the Puerto Viejo community in different ways. Please pray for this upcoming week as we continue to pour into the lives of those that live here and those that give of themselves to serve a God that is greater than anything we can ask, hope or imagine. Please pray for the safety of Amy and the girls while I am gone.

SK8 Church

2007-06-20T10:17:00.001-06:00

The team from SK8 Church (Steamboat Springs, CO) has been a great help this week and they have really connected with the local youth. One of the most interesting things has been getting to know many of the kids that are involved in that ministry. I would say that about half of the kids are not Christians, because this ministry is very much oriented toward reaching those that are not part of a traditional church. The ministry is led by Buck Chavarria and his wife Tara. The other leaders that are helping out are also Christians but many of the kids are not. Buck and Tara really feel called to reach out to these kids that come from such difficult backgrounds. They have even become the legal guardians of one of the girls that is on the trip.

Anyway, it has been awesome to see God working in the lives of these kids as they are completely surrounded by the love of God in action. Not only are they getting a chance to serve others, they are getting the straight truth about God's love and the good news of Jesus and his desire to have a relationship with them. Back home, these kids are surrounded by drugs and a variety of relgious options but here on this trip they are being surrounded by truth. I have also been really proud to see some of our local youth reaching out to build relationships with the kids from this team. It was a really big step yesterday for two of the local guys to take six or seven members of the team surfing. The local guys are often extremely shy when it comes to one on one interactions where they are the focus of attention so to see them step up to the plate and serve the members of this team was awesome.

It is a priveledge to be here seeing lives being changed...both locals and visitors alike. God is really doing some incredible things

Love All, Worship One

2007-06-19T14:01:00.000-06:00

Here is a quick look at a bumper sticker that was printed for us by SK8 Church, a visiting mission team that is with us this week.

Makena's special day

2007-06-19T13:49:00.000-06:00

Makena turned four yesterday. She was only one and a half when we moved here so she has been living in Costa Rica for well over half of her life. We had a fun day and she was so excited with her presents. She is crazy for Strawberry Shortcake right now and was not disappointed to find two dolls and lots of accessories hidden underneath layers of wrapping paper. Amy did an awesome job with the cake(strawberry cake with strawberry icing), Maili helped bust open the pinata and we had lots of fun celebrating the arrival of our littlest one four years ago. Here are a couple of photos from the day.

Night Monkeys and Showers

2007-06-19T12:39:00.000-06:00

One thing I’ve learned after two years here in Puerto… you never know quite what to expect. This past Sunday evening, our house church started out well. We had three new visitors and one other teenager that had only been once before. One thing you should know…preparing for and teaching at house church each week stresses me out. I love it and hate it at the same time. I love it because I totally believe that it’s what God has called me to do and I love to share biblical truth with everyone that has come. I hate it because I have never liked public speaking and I always feel totally inadequate and under-prepared…no matter how prepared I am. On top of that, distractions really throw off my thought processes and tend to get me really flustered.

Anyway, the evening started out fine. We hung out for a while, shared food together, goofed around with the musical instruments and generally enjoyed each others company. TJ played a few worship songs and then we got into our bible study. Again we are working our way through Matthew. We are going through it chapter by chapter so that we don’t miss anything and so that we are able to talk about and study the events as they occurred. From the very beginning, I knew that this night was going to be a little different because when you are dealing with a small group setting, any changes in the people that are present changes the dynamics of the group. That being said, I started out by bringing everyone up to speed and setting the context for our study. The specific passage was the first 14 verses of the 22nd Chapter of Matthew, where Jesus tells the story of a king that invited specific people to the wedding of his son. When the people that were invited rejected the invitation, he sent his servants out to invite anyone that they came across. In some ways, this bible study was more technical than others we have done because there were so many things to explain and define to a group that was not familiar with many of the terms. Then, there’s the application of what we have learned.

Well, about ¾ of the way through the study, at one of the more critical parts, someone yells out, “I think I see a night monkey (which is an animal that looks like a giant bush baby, comes out at night and climbs from tree to tree)!” Everyone jumps out of their seats to see the night monkey which was right outside our living room, and there was totally chaos for the next ten minutes. I finally got everything back under control and we get back into the bible. Right as everyone is re-engaged, liquid starts pouring from the second floor through a crack in the floorboards right onto Jordan’s head. Turns out, one of our new puppies had snuck upstairs, hid in the corner and relieved herself. Jordan jumped up as the pee continued to flow.
Everyone started laughing and there was chaos for the second time in 15 minutes. We finally made it through but it was one of the roughest evenings (in some ways) that we have had in a while. The good thing is that God is working, people are learning and we are doing in less than ideal conditions (which has stretched me a lot more than them).

I am so self-critical. It’s amazing to me that they keep coming back, but they do and they are inviting their friends. We see changes in their lives as they are engaged in church by their own choosing and they love it. It is so cool to see God working in so many different ways, often in spite of our own feeble attempts. It has really shown me that what God wants is people that are willing to say yes… not people that have everything figured out or have the program perfected. In the end, we stand on the saving grace of Jesus Christ and his word. In these are the true power for salvation and change.

Root Canal

2007-06-15T06:59:00.000-06:00

Skyway is gone and we are in San Jose for a couple of days. We were able to finish installing the playground on Wednesday, which was great news to the kids at the school. Unfortunately, it feels a little like keeping candy away from a baby because they have to wait a few more days until they can actually use it. We had so much rain that the water table was within a couple of inches of the surface of the soil, so it will take the cement some extra time to dry. Here is a photo of the Skyway team, a few of the kids from the school and the playground set. This has been a great way to simply bless the community in a way that gives something to the little children who can’t do it for themselves.

One of the other projects that Skyway completed was the metamorphosis of a large 55-gallon drum into a huge charcoal grill.

Wednesday afternoon and evening, we turned our regular skate session into a big cookout and invited all of the youth and their families. We ended up having between 50 and 60 people show up and it had a great time with food, music and lots of fun just hanging out. It was great to see some of the local youth helping to host the barbeque…serving the members of the visiting teams. I have a feeling that we will have even more interest in the house churches as we build more and more relationships through events like this.

We’ll be heading back to Puerto later today with Kathy, Amy’s best friend from nursing school, and her husband Mark. We came in to pick them up at the airport and also so that I could finish up phase I of my dental work. We have been to two dentists since we moved down but, just like in the States, not all dentists are created equal. The first two were not very thorough and missed a couple of potential problems that have now become real problems. I am heading in to the dentist in a couple of hours to get my first root canal. Doesn’t sound fun and I wish it could have been avoided but the tooth is cracked and causing a lot of pain. The downside is that I still have at least two more visits to the dentist to finish things out. At least we found a good one.

The Playground

2007-06-12T16:07:00.000-06:00

We were blessed with a great day of sun (and heat) and were able to complete much more of the playground. We also found some different ways to help us steady and straighten the posts of the two central portions of the set which really sped things up. The kids from the visiting team worked hard and we were able to get far enough so that we should be able to finish tomorrow.

One of the things I enjoy about these types of projects (and we'll do more as we get closer to finishing construction on the cafe and skate-park) is because people in town get so excited about them. It's really cool to visit with parents that come by to thank us for the work that is being done and it gives us opportunities to share the reason we do these types of things.

Tommorow night we are hosting a huge cookout for our local youth group in conjunction with the visiting team after the evening skate session. Food is always a great way to bring people together and we are expecting around 50 people total. What a great way to celebrate finishing the playground...

Transform

2007-06-11T14:55:00.000-06:00

Almost as soon as we started working on the playground, the rain began to fall. It's been mostly dry for the past couple of days but the post holes are still full of water. The other thing that happened as we began to work was that I got sick again. This time, it is a simple chest cold, but it has left me feeling pretty weak and unable to really pitch in and work with the Skyway team. I feel like a wuss. It's really unfortunate because working with the members of the team is such a great way to get to know the people that have sacrificed to help us. The good news is that we have two more full days of construction and a couple of really cool evening outreaches planned. Hopefully, the rain will hold off enough for us to pour cement (which may never dry) into the post-holes to keep the play set steady.

In other news, our house church went well last night. We have been studying and working our way through the book of Matthew. The reason we have been studying Matthew is so that we could really examine the person of Jesus together, outside of what people may have heard or assumed from past experiences. If someone heard in the past and believed that Jesus was just a good teacher, we find out that he actually claimed to be the son of God. We have also been able to study and discuss his parables, the ways he treated and responded to people and what he had to say to those that mis-represented his Father in heaven. Every time we meet, we ask the question, "What should these words that were written 2000 years ago mean for our daily lives right now, here in Puerto Viejo?" We get into some great discussion as we talk about what God's truth means for us as individuals and as a body of believers. It is really cool to begin hearing some of the youth explaining the truths that they are beginning to grasp. Truths that show they are really understanding that living for Jesus is more than following a list of rules or being at a certain place at a specific time on a specific day. Having a relationship with Him is something that should change our lives from the inside out. This was true last night as we talked about the ability of Jesus to change our lives through His power and how much of a struggle it can be at times. Please pray that God will continue to work in all of our lives as we live for him. Please pray that God will continue to reveal his truth and that he will protect the growing faith of our freinds as we walk this road together.

Outside

2007-06-09T11:42:00.000-06:00

Here we are in the thick of it. The first of our summer mission teams from Skyway Church in Phoenix, AZ is here. Much of what we do with the teams for the past couple of years has focused on construction and outreach here at the skatepark. That being said, we always want to continue to be a blessing out in the community whenever we have an opportunity. That's where the team Skyway comes in. Several months ago we received a letter from a Children's Association here in town. They were aware that we had installed a couple of sets of playground equipment in the past and asked if we could do it again...this time at a building that is being used as a kindergarten.

Long story short, we said yes, Skyway raised the necessary funds and we are in process. By the middle of next week, this rather empty corner of a school yard will have a brand-new, rather large playground set for the kids to go crazy on. It's a great way to help the community and for us to continue maintaining a visible presence. We also end up meeting many new people and making new relationships during these times where we work "off-site". I'll put up more photos as we get closer to having a final product.

In other news, one of the coolest things so far happened at the youth activities. The visiting mission team brought down instruments and wanted to play a few worship songs. They went through a short set, and as they finished up, three of the youth that attend house church asked if they could get up front with TJ (who leads worship on our team) so that they could play for the Skyway group. Now this may seem like a small thing, but it was actually a huge step. They got up and sang and played their hearts out for a one-song set. It was so exciting to see them stepping out on their own to actually lead in worship. It was also a huge step for them as more and more, they begin to see themselves as a church and as a united body of believers. What a cool thing to be able to enjoy. God is really working in their lives and there are visible proofs.

Retreat

2007-06-05T17:34:00.000-06:00

We're back from San Jose where we were poked, prodded and generally appointmented to death visiting doctors and dentists for five days straight. Apparently I have an enlarged aorta. I was also fortunate enough to get a chemical peel on my face and head (basically for free) when we visited the dermatologist last week. I look years younger and have a new spring in my step.

I have also been reading a very interesting book called The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball http://www.vintagefaith.com/the_emerging_church.html. It is a very interesting book about church and the emerging culture (which has really emerged already) and how we as Christians need to be engaging our culture rather than retreating from it. The author then goes on to describe how he is doing this in the ministry he is involved in. It's a really good read and I am enjoying thinking through the application of the various principles he talks about. One of the things I noticed last time we were in the states is how isolated and protected so many Christians have become. Much of the talk centered around subjects like pulling kids out of schools, how to avoid all of the terrible things around them, etc... It makes me afraid that too many Christians are engaged in a retreat. "Let's get into the refuge where we will be safe" rather than "Lets get out there and share the hope that is in us". During a conversation with one of my friends, after asking him some questions, he realized that he doesn't have even one friend that isn't a Christian. His entire social network is inside the Christian bubble. I don't want to get down on him or others because I've been there and I know how easy it is for that to happen without even realizing it. But, how are we ever going to spread the gospel if we have completely separated our selves and retreated from the ones who need it? This keeps me thinking about ways to avoid this in my own life.

visits

2007-06-03T15:02:00.000-06:00

This past week was crazy. Due to the somewhat remote nature of Puerto Viejo and our busy schedule, we have put lots of things off for the past couple of years. Chief among these were doctor and dentist appointments. Last week, we paid the piper. We headed into San Jose early Monday morning with the first round of doctor's appoinments on Monday afternoon. For the next four days, we had appointments morning and afternoon. We visited cardiologists (Makena has a heart murmur and I have an enlarged aorta), dentists (three cavities and a crown for me), and dermatologists (chemical peels and liquid nitrogen due to sun damage). It was crazy, expensive and downright exhausting but we're done (at least for two weeks). There is a lot to be said for keeping up on things but it's not easy when you're four hours away from good medical care. Add to all of this, having to stay in a hotel for five days and eating out at all meals and it was quite a trip.

Otherwise, things are good. We have house church in a couple of hours and I am looking forward to that. tonight we'll be talking about one of Jesus' stories about a landowner that entrusted responsibity for his vineyard to people that abused the priviledge. I love the whole comparison of the vineyard to our own lives as Christians. Take a look at Matthew 21:33 for the parallels. When Jesus comes into our lives (the vineyard), he sets us apart and claims ownership (the wall), he comes in to produce fruit/grapes (good works) which are put through the wine press (trials/difficulties) and results in the production of wine (the gospel) for the benefit of others. This can only happen if he lives in us (like manager lives onsite in the watchtower) and continually works in the vineyard (our lives), turning the fruit of our lives (the grapes) into opportunities to share the gospel (the wine). I look forward to talking about this with everyone tonight...

The Return

2007-05-25T08:26:00.000-06:00

Last night was a rough one. I woke up about 2:00am feeling very full...usually a pre-cursor to a round of vomiting. I put it off as long as I could and then all hell broke loose. Now it's daytime and I'm sitting at home with zero strength and a bellyache when I had planned on spending the day at the skatepark with the team that just arrived. Flexibility. That's the key.

One of the coolest things about the short term teams is having both churches that return and individuals that return. Yesterday, I was pleasantly suprised to see that one of the members of the visiting team was a guy that had come down last year during May. His name is Danny (on the right) and he is an all-around good guy. Last year, he came down as the result of a last minute decision and ended up being the most critical person on the team. We were hoping to put the roof on the skatepark but didn't really know how we were going to accomplilsh it. Well, Danny was a contractor and was able to put together a plan, divide everyone up into teams and get the whole thing taken care of in a very humble way. He's also a very committed Christian. At the end of that trip, we asked him to seriously consider coming back down at some time in the future to spend more time with us. Now he's back and he says that God has been working on him ever since that life-changing experience of coming down here to serve alongside us. We'll see what happens, but it's incredible to find out that the work we are doing not only has an impact locally, but God also uses it to touch and change lives in the people that come down for such short time frames. It is definitely good to see him again.

Bocas

2007-05-25T08:18:00.000-06:00

Back from Bocas del Toro in Panama and all is well. It was good to get away with just Amy and the girls for a few days before the attack of the summer teams. We really got to spend some fun time with each other in a beautiful place. One of the most exciting things we did was spend the better part of a day on a tour of several different islands. We were able to see some dolphins, go snorkling and hang out at one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. I really felt like I was able to connect with the kids in a special way.

It's funny how each year, after several months without a team in town, I start to look forward to the summer season. It is a lot of fun and I really enjoy meeting all of the different people that come down to help us here in Puerto, but by the end of the summer, I am glad the teams are gone and am ready to dive back in to our ongoing work. This summer will be a busy one and will also be very much a transitional period as TJ, the most long-term member of the team, will be departing in September.

In other news, I have been reading a book called "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller, author of "Blue Like Jazz". I really enjoy reading him because he makes me think outside of my normal boundaries. This book is more of an apologetc from a totally different perspective than most apologetics which are more concerned with "proofs" than with process. what I mean by that is that he approaches Jesus, the Gospel and salvation from a much more holistic, relational perspective that often seems to get lost in the facts and bullet points that typically make up my thought processes. It was a great read and really gives me a lot to chew on and think about as I work to teach and display a loving, relational God in a culture that knows him more through such things as hairlength, style of dress and genres of music. Good book...I definately recommend it and believe that he really speaks to a lot of the things we evangelical christians "know" about Jesus and the bible. Read it.

Potential

2007-05-25T08:17:00.000-06:00

All's good. We head off to Bocas del Toro tomorrow to renew our visas. It has been quite a while since we visited Bocas and I'm looking forward to it. It is a good opportunity for our family to get away and spend some time together before we enter the summer season. This year is going to be good but full and we won't have much opportunity to have a break once it begins.

Speaking of the coming season, we have been discussing and planning for the various teams that are coming. I'm looking forward to the work that we'll be doing as it will take us further towards the completion of the skate park, but the thing I am most excited about is the opportunities we have to really begin including some of the locals to help us host teams. There are a few of the older youth that are potential candidates and a couple that actually get excited about the possiblity. If everything works out, it will also be a really cool way for the visiting teams to connect with the area in a different way. We are hoping that they can add some local flavor to the orientation process and also help us with some of the logistical functions like getting teams into town for dinner and then back to the hotel safely. This could really challenge some of the older youth to begin serving both God and their community in a very different way from anything they have done in the past. There will probably be goofs, surprises and let downs but if we are really and truly here to start something and pass it off then we have to be willing to take chances. I'm looking foward to it.

Upcoming

2007-05-25T08:11:00.000-06:00

Here we are again...just a few weeks away from the summer short term mission season. We're gearing up, getting construction projects and outreaches planned. Ronnie, one of the long-term members of our team, has been doing a great job overseeing continued construction of various aspects of the cafe and skatepark. We are going to be putting a new deck around the metal container we use for a skate and tool shop and are in the process of finishing the office space. One of the things we have needed for the longest time is office space. We need the AC for our computers and it will also be so helpful to have a more distraction free environment to work in. Dear God, please give us high speed internet to go along with the new air-conditioning unit. Amen.

The Baptism - April 3, 2007

2007-05-24T16:28:00.000-06:00

Baptism means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. One of the things I have found here in Puerto Viejo is that baptism is very closely associated with salvation. That’s exactly what it should be associated with you might say, but, here in this culture things aren’t always what they seem. Misunderstandings and mis-information abound. Here in Puerto Viejo, there is a commonly held belief that being baptized means you go to heaven and not being baptized means... well, let's just say your future is up in the air...or maybe in the other direction if things don't go so well.

Jesus provided us with an example of baptism as did many of the early apostles. For them, baptism was an outward sign of a change that had taken place within a person as they turned their backs on the way they used to live (read "died to the old self") and began to go in a completely different direction (read "raised again to a new way of life") based on their faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is also a way for those of us who have put our faith in Christ, to identify with him in a personal, physical way. The bible says it this way "...those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!" 2 Cor. 5:17.

This inward change and identification with Jesus was celebrated recently when Johanna and Jetsi were baptized. Both of them had chosen to follow Jesus several years earlier but neither of them had been baptized. They had never marked their decision publicly. During discussions at our house church one night, both of them requested that they be baptized. They are excited about their faith and finally wanted to show friends and family what had taken place in their lives. The event brought together both the Spanish and the English speaking house churches along with an assortment of friends and family.

The evening of the baptism started with some pretty iffy weather. Right as we gathered at the river, the sky clouded up and it began to rain. Fortunately, God had other plans and the rain stopped as fast as it had started. I took some time to explain the meaning of baptism and to read some verses from the sixth chapter of Romans. We prayed and then Jetsi and Johanna were baptized. As you can see from the photos, Makena and our neighbor's dog Panbon got a front row seat so as not to miss any of the action. The smiles say it all as both ladies were excited and proud to share the moment with everyone that gathered.

One really cool thing that happened involved Jetsi's family. Her mother and father have been separated for many years and while they have a good relationship, they don’t get together as a family very often. This event brought them all together to share in the happiness of their daughter, which made Jetsi very happy. Afterwards we got together for food and a celebration which topped off a great event. Please pray for Jetsi and Johanna. Pray that they will continue to be identified with Jesus in every area of their lives and that this public marking of a personal decision will be one more event in two lives that continue to mirror Christ to the world around them.

Change - March 27, 2007

2007-05-24T16:25:00.001-06:00

Change seems to be the word that best describes the constant state of things since we arrived here in Puerto Viejo a little over two years ago. Changes in personnel, changes in ministry structure, changes in knowledge and understanding. I'm glad for the change because it always causes me to look at things from a different perspective...sometimes out of sheer survival. Right now, we are moving into a period of major change with our team. In a few more months, the long-term team will consist of myself, my wife Amy and Ronnie and Tammy. Thankfully, we have several people that have committed to being here for the short-term future which is so important because it allows us to continue focusing on long-term goals and objectives. We can't do what we're doing without long-term team members and we can't do it without the short-term members that are so essential to the support roles. That being said, I am really hopeful that God will provide more long-term staff in the coming year. We need someone that is fully committed to the continued development skate-park and youth program. We need someone to take on many administrative tasks for the long haul and we definitely need someone that is committed to everything it takes to plan and host short term teams. Looking ahead, these tasks seem impossible for three people to take on...and they are, if we're to remain sane. But, this is where the change of perspective comes in...plus the realization that we don't have to do it all. God knows and will provide what's needed in His timing. I am really looking at this time as an opportunity to start over in many ways. We are out of the development phase. We have direction and momentum and no longer need pioneers. We now need people that can take the ball that is already in play and run with it. I could (and usually tend to) get really stressed out about all of the unknowns but truthfully, I'm excited about the all of the possiblities as God brings the right people on at the right time. We'll see what happens.

Following - March 12, 2007

2007-05-24T16:21:00.000-06:00

We have really enjoyed being back in town and reconnecting with everyone. it is nice to be home. I've also been really happy to see how things are going with the house churches. This past weekend, we celebrated a wedding in the Spanish house church. Ronnie did an awesome job of officiating and it was really cool to see all of the different people there enjoying the fellowship together.

There have been some great things happening at the English speaking house church as well. This past Sunday, after the bible study (which people are really beginning to participate in more and more) we talked about having a special time for baptism in a couple of weeks. One of the girls that has been coming faithfully for a while has been a Christian for a while but has never been baptized. When asked if she would like to be, she immediately answered, "Yes". The cool thing is that her little brother accepted Christ and was baptized in May of last year and now he is going to be involved and will help baptize his sister. During the course of the conversation, one of our next door neighbors spoke out and said that she had never been baptized either, even though she has been a Christian for years. She also said that she didn't think that her husband (one of my surfing buddies) had been baptized either. Immediately following house church, a couple of the guys came to me and we talked for a long time about their faith. Both of them had made decisions to follow Jesus earlier in their lives and as they shared those decisions with me, they told me that they would like to be baptized as well.

It is hard for me to convey what these things mean after the past couple of years of laying groundwork, hoping and praying. we have done a lot of talking about what it really means to follow Jesus and people are really, conciously wanting to do it...whatever that might mean for them. It is so exciting...they are even volunteering to pray before and after church. When most of them first started coming, they could hardly look each other in the eye and now they are beginning to pray for each other, ask for prayer about specific areas of their lives, read aloud and even sing in front of each other. These are huge steps down and exciting path and it makes me so happy to see them really wanting to know God in ways that are genuine. It is just so awesome to have the priviledge to be a part of it all.

The Return - February 27, 2007

2007-05-24T16:19:00.000-06:00

Well, after six weeks of living out of suitcases, it's good to be home, although we feel like we're living a country song. Our dog is gone, our phone is broken, our washing machine is leaking and our dryer belt broke...but, we're home and we're getting back on track. It has been good to see the team again as well. We are going through so many personnel changes and so many things about the future are up in the air that it has preoccupied a lot of my thoughts lately. I have been praying for peace and wisdom as I look and plan ahead through this next year...trying to anticipate what the changes will mean. This type of stress can either get me down or cause me to really start looking in different directions for solutions or alternatives. God has really been using this time for the latter...looking in different directions and approaching problems from a different perspective. So much so that I am actually excited about the future. I see new ways of involving locals and ways of reducing the responsibilities of our various ministries as God brings locals into our circle of influence...to assist us and to eventually take over responsibilities. There is even a good chance that we may be able to completely turn over one entire area of ministry to locals with only a little oversight responsiblity on our part, by the end of next year. Hard to say what will happen...only God knows. But, I am thankful that he has given me peace and helped me to trust him with an unknown future. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful because He cannont deny himself.